Late
by KenSan1990
Summary: They were called Creations. They were made to be as normal as people, but something went awry. Now they live in the dark like vampires. It takes a brave human to venture into their territory. Kaoru learns that she can trust, even love them though. AU KK
1. Prologue

A/N: New story hope you like

Late

No one like to go on the train late at night, even if they had to. The strange thing was that there was nothing ominous to the train. There were no mysterious deaths, no disappearing traincars, but not even mice wandered around the cars at night. There was, instead, another fear.

A branch of sub-humanity; an almost unethical creation came out at night. They were deemed as vampires, except they weren't. They were a creation that would put Frankenstein to shame. Perfect thinking and breathing human beings. They retained the intelligence of an AI, while also having the stamina of a great warrior. Yet it retained the simplistic characteristics of a human; it would sweat and it would bleed.

At it's first unveiling, the world was amazed. It wasn't a clone, or a cyborg. It was, instead, a combination of Mother Nature's nurture and science's many advances. Originally produced as the prefect servent or companion, it revolutionized the world. All of the menial jobs were given to it. It did the grunt work while still holding standards with the human realm. But like any mechanism, it had it's faults.

It started in New York City, in the heart of the Lower East Side, as first recorded. After having been produced for well past half a year, it was believed that everyone in the world was at least half comfortable with the idea, but something happened. A young female creation, named Sarah, was walking back to her apartment to spend the rest of the night with the companion that had purchased her. Sarah's journey was halted by a group of young gang members. Though supposedly made to easily defend itself, the creation had the same fear as a human and couldn't properly defend itself against the thugs. It was found close to the sight of its work, battered and nude. The thugs knew her to be a creation, and like many who lurked in the shadows with their ideals, dubbed her and all of her kind to be mothing but inferior "dolls" controlled by their posh owners.

Other creations immediately saw this attack as a threat to their kind, so they began to riot. Their outrageous behavior wasn't enough to stop people from buying them and putting them to use in less than appropriate ways. As the company searched for a way to right this wrong, they were met with the dilemma of not being able to control their creations. There was no switch to turn them on and off; there was no device implanted in their brains to tell them what to do. All they could do was watch the carnage that was created in ripple effect to all of the things that creations were put to.

Finally, a plan was developed to keep the two humanities controlled. Much like a "seperate but equal" clause, the creations and their human counterparts had everything seperated, right down to washrooms and schools.

The only exceptions were in public transit. Though there were attempts to seperate them in air travel by using seperate planes, or using buses in the same fashion, these plans were hard to coordinate. It finally came to the decision of letting the creations on mass transits at night. Thus, the belief of these beings becoming vampires arose.

The trains at night were some of the most feared. Humans hardly ventured on trains knowing well that not only were theree creations that rode them on their way to work, but the position of the conductor as well as any other personnel spots changed with the setting of the sun.

Some, however, were brave.

One Kamiya Kaoru, for example.

She ventured onto a train even though her heart was beating heavily. All of her resources were used up. All of her friends were either busy (in just about every sense of the word) or they were out of town. Not only that, but she missed the last "human" bus out of the station that was going near her home.

Kaoru tentatively bought a ticket for a train leaving at 10:30 p.m. and boarded it at the last moment.

The train was desolate. 10:30 was more or less the standard point at which the humans and the creations changed places on the streets. She was left with what she hoped were a few brave souls narrowly scattered about the train.

Sitting down in a seat near the door, Kaoru clutched her bag tight to her chest and heaved a steady breath. She crossed her ankles.

"Your ticket?" she heard, forcing her to look up. The individual was wearing a black uniform, so his hair, a bloody red color, stuck out where it was pooled on the shoulders of the jacket. She knew just by looking at the uniform that he was a creation. The workers on the trains that were human wore white uniforms while their counterparts were subjected to wearing the black.

"Um...here," she said, holding it out. The man marked it and turned on his heel, continuing on. Kaoru wrung her hands. She believed, by noting that the train was moving, that the man was not the conductor, but then she knew in her heart that she couldn't make those sorts of assumptions. To her the creations were monstrous things that were capable of many more things than their creators were aware, and she wasn't the only one that thought that.

The man came back around ten minutes later, sitting just a few seats from her. Kaoru shivered. Despite having all the human ammenities to them, the creations seemed to have a cold aura about them. This man was sitting with his legs crossed, a paper in his hands.

Her heart wouldn't stop beating, and though she wanted to turn away from the man, there was something a bit intruging about him. When his ears twitched she turned around and sank into her seat the slightest bit, her arms tight around her bag. The train stopped and called out her stop. Kaoru jumped up and started for the doors as they opened.

Once she was out on the platform, she felt a bit safer. She put her hand to her chest, breathing heavily as though she's just run a hundred miles.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder. She shrieked.

"Calm yourself," the person said. "I mean you no harm that I do not."

Kaoru narrowly turned to look at the man that had asked her for her ticket. "Are...are you...following me or..?"

"No, I still have work. You dropped this," he said, handing her a barrett.

Kaoru touched her hair. It had come out. "Oh...thank you..."she said. Before the man turned around, she caught a glimpse at his nametag:

Himura Kenshin.

A/N: Till later, KenSan out!


	2. 1

A/N: I'm glad I got the kind of response that I did for the opening chapter. I realize that it wasn't much to judge off of but I'm glad that people reviewed. Onto the next to chapter!

1.

The next evening everything seemed as if it had never happened. Kaoru was working the next evening, bussing tables and taking orders. It wasn't any normal restaurant that she was working in however. It was a high end restaurant that provided her with a decent enough lifestyle.

Kaoru picked up a few plates off of a table, smiling at the people that she was serving. "Is there anything else I can get you?" Kaoru asked. She knew that the people at the table were good tippers, so she made the effort to stay near them and make sure their wine glasses were filled.

"No thanks," the man said. The woman on the other hand, a dark haired, green eyed lady, smiled at her and said:

"Actually, I was hoping to get a taste of whatever your desert special is."

"I'll have that out as soon as I can," she said.

Kaoru wandered back into the kitchen, telling the cooks her orders. She picked up a few plates that were ready, but was stopped by one of her friends, Misao. "Hey, heard you had to stay late again." Misao had already hung up her apron.

"You think you could come and pick me up tonight. You're not that far from here."

"Ask your boyfriend, he hasn't heard from you." Misao said. "What is it with you trying to avoid him?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes, smiling. "I don't know. I've been having some issues with Sano lately."

"Does it have to do with him not getting a job?" Misao questioned. Kaoru's name rung around in the kitchen. She started to blush, and hustled out onto the floor, putting down the plates for her patrons. She smiled at them too. They looked like they could give a good tip as well.

She folded the platter under her arm and walked across the floor, picking up someone's refill order. It was then that she passed by the table that she had stopped at where the woman asked for the dessert. Kaoru caught part of her conversation:

"…has been something in the works." She said.

"Like what?" the man asked.

"Well this is legislation still pending, but the scientists are thinking that we can control a minor part of the creations with the way that their DNA is worked. Since there is a bit of DNA for everyone on file…"

"Kaoru?"

Kaoru turned around, looking at Misao who was beckoning her back into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just putting my magic ears to the test," she giggled.

"Were you eavesdropping again? Misao asked. "You know what the boss said." Misao was giggling too. Even though she pretended to berate Kaoru for her actions (which were done in a way to get her in good graces) she was always joshing her best friend. "Anyways, what was so important for you to listen to this time?"

"I don't know," she said. "It just sounded juicy is all. Nothing too important," she told her boss she was going on her break, which he accepted, and she walked outside with Misao. "I was curious though, I mean, I know we've talked about this stuff before but, what do you think of the creations?"

Misao turned away and looked at the skyline. "Well, I don't know. I mean, I guess they're all right. They haven't really done anything to me to make me hate them or anything," she said, shrugging. Kaoru knew that answer though. "Why?"

"I ran into one last night," she explained. "On the train; he was a worker on there. But…he was nice. He gave me back my barrette and everything but…"

Misao grabbed Kaoru's shoulders and looked up into her eyes. "Look, you can have whatever opinion you want of them. Those are your decisions, but keep in mind about Sano okay?" Misao said, and ran off into the parking lot before Kaoru could say any more.

Knowing that she would be needed shortly, Kaoru wandered back into the building, musing to herself. Misao had good points. She was allowed to think whatever she wanted. She wasn't living in a world that was like 1984, but at the same time, she needed to consider Sanosuke's feeling in all of this.

Sagara Sanosuke had been Kaoru's boyfriend for what was about to be a year in the next month. He was a kind hearted fellow to her, but to most people he was nothing more than a ruffian. Sanosuke's battles with people on the streets often led to him being in battles with the law itself. Those were battles that he got out of by the skin of his teeth.

Kaoru grabbed another platter and walked out onto the floor. It was Sanosuke that she always tried to consider. She supposed that the reason he was as he was stemmed from over a decade back.

Kaoru remembered when the creations were first unveiled. They were created by a batch of scientists in Japan who believed that they would create a new way of life. Of course, as everyone was soon to realize, they were not easily controlled. Kaoru remembered when she was nine, when all of this occurred.

Her family had purchased a creation. Her father, a wealthy partner in an automobile company, had thought that there was nothing more wonderful created in the world. His wife wasn't so sure. They had gotten a creation that became like an older brother to Kaoru, who was an only child. After six months, when Sarah was found beaten, the family's creation leapt from the third story window to join the riots in central Tokyo.

"Drat!" Kaoru said after a moment of thought. Misao had skidded her way out of taking Kaoru home again.

It was around that time that she picked up the dessert for the table with the green eyed lady and the man that she was with. As she walked out, she thought about how she perceived the creations and how Sanosuke perceived them. Kaoru was a rather humble person in the core. She was also rather tolerant, at least, that was what she wanted to believe in herself. She knew that the creations had done some wicked things in the past, but it was nothing that the humans hadn't instigated in the first place. In retrospect it was a war, at least as Kaoru though. It was one of those wars that just couldn't be won. People were always going to debate in the governmant while the "soldiers" were off fighting in the streets.

Kaoru set the tray down. When she did she recieved a chilling glance from the green eyed lady. "Thank you," the lady said. Her voice clearly said 'go away'. The raven haired girl turned around and went to where there were people waiting at the door. She helped them be seated and took their order. All the while she was thinking about Sanosuke and his incorrigable disgust for the creations.

Though Kaoru had never asked Sanosuke why he was so discriminatory towards them, there was a certain amount of belief as to why. The only people that Sanosuke hated so much that he deliberatly went out and fought, in spite of his own instincts not to, were the ones that had wronged him one way or another. The typical spars that he had with other ruffians on the street were almost child's play, even if there was blood spilt and he came home with bruises. The other fights, the ones where he held nothing, were the ones that told Kaoru all that she needed to know.

The green eyed lady hardly touched her dessert and the couple vanished out the door shortly after paying the check. Kaoru went around the collect the tip. When she picked it up, she was keen to notice the large bill that was left for her. Not only that, but a note was scribbled out:

_'Forget what you heard._' It said.

Kaoru gulped. There came a point that eavesdropping was a problem, she supposed, but she couldn't see how what she heard was any different from what she would hear on the news. All the time the people on the news were reporting how they were trying to find a system that would help the "scientists" be able to control their creations. It was about like doctors saying they had found a new cure for cancer, but people were still dying from it. Kaoru shook her head and ripped up the note, going back to her job.

She got off, once again, at 10:30. It gave her chills just to walk outside. She pulled out her phone and began to dial a number. "Yeah?" was what she got in response. Karou tweaked a grin.

"Hey Sano."

She could hear Sano suck in a breath. "Hey Kaoru, what's up?"

"Not much," she said. She began pulling at the hem of her shirt. "I was wondering if you could come pick me up," she said, stubbing her toe against the ground. She heard a car horn in the background.

"I would, really," he said, which made it obvious that he wasn't going to.

"You aren't doing anything that special are you?" Kaoru asked hotly. "I was thinking I could come over tonight and we could just...hang out. It is Friday."

"Well, I guess but...if you can get here. My car's sorta..."he paused. "Well, not in one piece at the moment."

Kaoru's mind was boggled. "You weren't in a wreck were you?"

"No, no, nothing like that," he laughed. "I just...sorta...well...I'll just show you when you come over," he said. "You will won't you?" Kaoru dreaded the ride over there, once again on the train, but she nodded to herself that she would withstand it if it meant being with Sanosuke.

"Yeah. It should take me like twenty minutes or so," she said, looking at her watch.

"'Kay. See ya then. Love ya," he said, not giving her time to respond back.

Kaoru boarded the train with more confidence than she had before. She sat down in the same seat, looking around at the scant amount of people also on board. She pulled out a magazine and started to slip through it, hoping that it would come her nerves. She crossed her legs neatly and smiled to herself.

"Your ticket?" she heard, like the other night. She glanced up and took in the red hair and black uniform. She bit her lip, pulling her ticket out. The man marked it and walked on. For a moment, Kaoru wasn't even certain that the man recognized her. She knew that creations had the ability to think and to memorize. Maybe this one was a defect.

She leaned back in her seat and waited a few minutes. If she was right he would come back and sit down a few seats from her. She hoped so at least. She continued to smile to herself as she remembered the name on his tag. "Kenshin," she said, muttering his name softly.

As if she had read it in a crystal ball, the man came down and sat near her, the daily paper in his hands. There was still the fearful sensation in her. It was dark outside and she was on a train that was traveling so quickly. She knew that the creations crept about. She bit her lip. She had to fight the urge to want to say something to him. What was it that she could say to him? How could she bring about a conversation.

At the end of it all, she fought with herself and lost. By that time the man, Kenshin, had disappeared into the bowels of the train and her stop was coming up. She picked up her things and got off the platform.

Still on the train, the red haired man wandered about the different train cars, marking the tickets of the patrons who were on. Most were familiar faces on their way to work. Others were shy, or new, or just strange. He shaded his eyes from them, and other than his samll request of them, spoke not a word.

He made his way into the compartment where the woman from before sat. He recalled her from the night before. She had a sweet, almost intoxicating scent, not to mention that she was wearing a short skirt so it was easy to see her legs. Kenshin had to fight himself from being entranced by a human. He knew that it would be forbidden of him to even consider being her "companion".

"Himura," he heard. He glanced up to anther black clad figure. He stood, folding the paper neatly. "Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine," he responded dully. "Just lost in thought that I am."

The other man before him, a young, smiling creation, motioned for Kenshint o follow him back near the conductor's car. Kenshin obeyed the gesture, walking away from the passangers.

"You know, you haven't taken a day off in quite some time," the smiling creation said. "The boss has been getting a little concerned about you. I mean, it's good that you work, but you have the opportunity..."

"I am well aware Sojiro," said Kenshin kindly. "There's not much to go home to after my shift. I would not know what to do if I were off that I would not."

"That woman was really nice looking," Sojiro replied. "And I mean, she was riding the night train."

"She is human," Kenshin replied somberly. "She is fearful."

Sojiro shrugged. "I've known people like us to cross forbidden barriers," Sojiro said. "There are more likeable humans out there than you may think," Sojiro laughed, his smile unwaivering. "Anyways, I was just passing on the message. I thought you might like to know."

"Tell him I'll consider it, yes?" Kenshin asked. Sojiro nodded. When Kenshin walked away, the boy started to shake him head. It was hard not to look at Kenshin. As if his flaming hair wasn't enough, his face was covered with a cross shaped scar where he had once been persecuted like many others. His eyes carried a dull, listless tone to them. Forgotten, fearful and now pushed in place, a thumb resting over his head ready to squashed him at any moment.

"Poor man," Sojiro said to the air. He knew that if Kenshin tried he could pass for a human. In truth he was the most human that Sojiro had seen. All of them seemed to have something that gave them away. Their eyes, their way of walking, their tendencies to rattle of random bits of information almost as if they had went into an overload. Most of all was their near senselessness to the world about them. They realized that, while made as best they would be made, they lacked the empathy of others. Kenshin was fully empathic.

Sojiro turned on his heel and went back to the conductor's car. There was no use in him toiling over something that he could not change.

Kaoru was shocked at the look at her boyfriend's car. He held her hand tightly, hoping to hold her back. She bit her lip and lowered her head. It took all she could not to laugh. "And...and who did this...?" she asked.

"Well...just some...friends," he said. The car was littered in pieces, though it was sure that every one of them was there.

"How long you think it will take for you to put it back together?" Kaoru asked. Sanosue shrugged.

"I'm going to guess a while," Sanosuke said. "Unless I get those boneheads to put it back together for me. Buncha punks."

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black."

"Hey, I don't go around taking people's cars apart for fun!" Sanosuke nearly hollered. Kaoru just giggled. Suddenly, she came to a stop. She turned around and hugges Sanosuke tightly. He hugged her back, not sure what it was for.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Sanosuke asked.

Kaoru tried to brush it off by saying 'not really' but then there was no way that she could avoid not telling him about the note she had gotten. When she explained the situation, Sanosuke looked at her strangely. "So...is it a threat?"

"She bribed me."

"She sounds like a foxy lady," Sanosuke said, rubbing his hands together.

"She sounds like a bitch to me," Kaoru said. She sat on his stoop, her head against his shoulder. "I don't know what to make of it."

"Eh, I say forget it and pocket the money. It's not like your some spy or anything."

Kaoru shrugged. "The fact that's she bribing me scares me just a little," Kaoru said. "Maybe things are more catastrophic than she was talking about."

"Maybe she's just a bitch who doesn't like eavesdroppers to eavesdrop." Sanosuke said. Kaoru shoved him hard, then looked up into his eyes. He met her with a kiss, her hand clutching his. "How bout we take this inside eh?" he asked. Kaoru nodded, going to stand up but being scooped up into his arms instead. "Now this is more like us huh?" he said, plopping her on the couch. "I got pizza, I got a hot movie, and we can have some fun tonight."

Kaoru noted that Sanosuke avoided the subject. Maybe it was because he was happy someone else was doing something to help his cause. She sighed to herself, grabbing a slice of pizza as Sanosuke turned on the movie. He slung his arm over her shoulders and she nuzzled in his chest. In any case, it was forgotten.

A/N: Well...should she be concerned? Anyways, till next time, KenSan out!


	3. 2

A/N: This story is doing much better than I anticipated...yays...thank you to all reviewers!

2.

The repulsive sound of white noise woke the giant from his sleep. He rolled over in the bed and opened his eyes, his first view of the world being the cracked ceiling above him. He blinked a few times before hoisting himself up. He flicked off the radio sitting a few feet from him. Silence filled the room.

"Oh, you're awake finally."

The giant was startled. "Don't do that. You pop in whenever you want...you're not Big Brother," the man said, his arms crossed.

The voice originated from the small black ankle bracelet the giant was forced to wear. "Well, I can't read your thoughts but I can tell when you awake. You stop snoring."

"Do you keep the transmitter on all the time or something?" The giant padded out of the bedroom and down the hallway, stopping at the bathroom. "What do you want? I don't think you want to listen to me going to the john."

"Just telling you the news Professor," the voice said. "I wanted to talk to you about the legislation that is trying to pass through many government bodies to separate the creations even more. Of course there are different mandatory restrictions placed on them but..."

"Get to the part where you tell me something that I don't know already," the 'Professor' said, sitting down on the toilet.

"There are pieces of legislation that are coming to the point that the UN and Amnesty International are objecting to them. However, these pieces of legislation are almost to the point of being passed in countries like USA, China and Russia."

"What are they demanding?"

"They're saying that all of the creations brought about are to have blood samples taken to be on a database. They also wish to put a chip in all they can, especially newborns that, while not controlling them, essentially acts as a shock collar. Scientists are trying to create a unviersal remote so that any human can use these on them."

The 'Professor' drank in the information. He sighed, flushed the toilet, and walked out of the bathroom, his mind heavy. "So...what? Can the UN or AI do anything about it?"

There was silence again. The 'Professor' waited for the response, grabbing breakfast in the meantime. "Well, of course they're trying their best. But, when up against such formidable countries trying to pass these laws, there's only so much either organization can do."

The 'Professor' mulled for a moment. "Why do they want the blood?" he asked finally. Deep down, he already knew the answer, but he wasn't going to let anyone know that.

"There have been noticeable similarities between all creations. Really, I'm sure they want some kind of DNA because the strands have a different strain to them than a regular humans," the voice said. "This is all the information I can give you Professor. I will, as always, check up on you periodically."

"Wait," the 'Professor' said. "How long?"

"How long what?"

"What I always ask you."

"Oh," the voice paused. "You now have been confined for five years, seven months, twenty four days, seven hours and thirteen minutes."

"Right," he said, lowering his voice. The 'Professor' looked down to his ankle where the bracelet was. He tugged on it, as he always did, and sighed. He got up from the table, wandering over to the fridge and standing front of it without opening it. There were newspaper clippings on it. They started out as things that were to do with the creations. That was when the 'Professor' believed the house arrest to be no more than a week. After several months he started clipping out things that caught his interest. After that, he began clipping out just anything so he would have something to consistently read. Now he didn't even try to cut out the columns. He read half sentences and wondered what the other half said.

He placed his forehead against the cool fridge. This was his fault.

* * *

Kaoru spent two days at her beau's place without intending to do it. She and Sanosuke always had a good time together, and it seemed that she didn't want to tear apart from him. She supposed that was why she wasn't around him a lot. Kaoru was aware that she would be calling in "sick" if she stayed on weekdays. She'd already done that a few times, she didn't want to keep coming in looking refreshed rather than "sick".

"Look, I really need to get home," she said. Sanosuke had his hands around her waist. They stood on his stoop, Sanosuke trying to pull her into the threshold of the house, Kaoru pushing against him. "I really do Sa..."he kissed her. "Don't you go doing that now mister!" she said, finally wriggling her way out of his grasp. "I promise I'll call tonight. We can spend all night on the phone if you want."

"That'd be nice," Sanosuke said, "but we both have a shift tomorrow don't we?" Sanosuke asked. It made Kaoru remember that Sanosuke had been called over the weekend for a construction job. He told her he didn't know where he'd be working, but that he believed it would be somewhere near the line on the train that Kaoru took between her home and his.

"Yeah. Guess I won't see you much," she said, gripping the strap on her bag hard. Spontaneously she ran back up to him, kissing him. "This weekend's been fun," she said, her nose deep in his shoulder blade. He had a scent about him that drove her mad. She pulled back, her eyes cast downward.

"What's the matter?" Sanosuke asked.

"N-nothing," she said.

"Something's wrong," he said. Sanosuke lifted her chin to look him in the eye. "What's up?"

Kaoru couldn't tell him that suddenly she'd seen the man with red hair, Kenshin, flash before her eyes. She squeezed Sanosuke tighter. "I just...remembered that my shift will probably run long tomorrow too," she half-lied. She never knew if her shift would run late, but there was a chance, more often than not, that it would. "I gotta go okay?" she said, dashing down his stoop and down the street, hardly looking back.

Kaoru arrived home quickly, the commute home seeming to run a little faster than normal, but she played that into her nerves. She had never, ever had a thought of another man when she was with Sanosuke. Sanosuke was everything to her; heaven, earth and inferno. There was no way she could escape him. He was like the sun, creeping anywhere and everywhere it could, and while it slept at night, there was always a glow somewhere. But now, with the image of Kenshin flashing in her eyes, she was frightened. Her stomach was in knots.

She marched up to her apartment, struggling to put the key in the door. When she toggled on the door, she found it still locked even though she heard it 'click'. She turned the key again, once again hearing a 'click'. She opened the door, gazing around at the darkened apartment. Maybe she'd forgotten to lock the door.

"Were you with the bruiser all weekend?" Kaoru jumped she was so afraid.

"Yahiko!" she yelled. "What the hell was that?"

"Sorry sis," Yahiko came out of her kitchenette. "Mom and Dad asked me to come over. Said that you hadn't returned her calls. I told her you were probably at what's-his-name's house, but they're worry warts."

"You can tell them I'm fine. And you can also give back the house key."

"Ah ah, Mom's rule. She'll rent the apartment for you if you check in with her and still do crap with the family." Kaoru couldn't believe it. She was twenty years old and still under her parents' thumbs.

"Yeah I know," she said, tossing her bag on the table. "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know. Twenty minutes," he plopped down in the recliner. "So were you with the dude?"

"Sano. His name's Sano; and yes, I was with him."

"'Kay," Yahiko pulled out a phone. Kaoru knew he was texting their mother to tell her that Kaoru was alright. "You know Mom doesn't approve of him."

"So? It's not Mom's decision who I like and dislike," she said. Although she was usually argumentative with her little brother, there was an extra drive for her to convince herself that the only reason she saw Kenshin was because he was strange looking and stuck in her memory. "She doesn't really know him."

"She knows he puts his feet on the coffee table. And eats like a pig. And has no manners."

"So? You do that stuff and she still adores you." Kaoru scoffed, sitting opposite her brother. "Have you heard anything about any law stuff being passed against the creations?"

Yahiko glanced up from his phone, confused at what his sister was asking him. He put the phone away, placed his feet on her coffee table and said: "Yeah...in the US and somewhere else, why?"

"I heard a customer talking about it," she said, picking up the television remote. "She...bribed me to "forget" what I heard."

"She sounds crazy."

"I know but…she said something about...blood samples I think...I don't know. All I know is that there is this...creepy...creation on the trains. He works for them. He's got this blood red hair and these strange eyes."

"Sounds like a weirdo like the rest of them," Yahiko said. "Why were you on the train at night?"

"My shift ran late. I didn't have any other ride."

Yahiko laughed. "You're so gutless," he pulled his phone back out again.

Usually when Yahiko insulted her, Kaoru would have said something back. This time she didn't feel like it. She felt too lost with all that had happened over the weekend. Alongside the woman that she overheard talking, and the thought of Kenshin she just had, she was still ecstatic. Her whole body seemed to be in overdrive from being around Sanosuke for long. Not to mention that their weekends usually involved staying in his place (mostly his bedroom) and being raunchy. It all mixed up in her body, as if she were a blender, and she still wasn't done pureeing the mix.

"Shouldn't you be leaving?" Kaoru demanded. "You did Mom's little errand."

Yahiko sneered at his sister but got up nonetheless, saying good bye. Once he left Kaoru crawled to her bed and laid down, hoping that if she finally slept that maybe she could cool her nerves.

* * *

On Monday, Kenshin rose to the stale air of the space he resided in. The sun broke through the paper curtains, small dust particles dancing in the air. He sat with his head arced downward staring at his knobby knees. He pulled them up to his chest and put his arms around them, thinking.

It was nine in the morning. He always slept very little. He got home before the crack of dawn, laid down, and woke early enough in consideration before starting his day.

He finally got up off the moth eaten mattress. He lived in what could barely pass as an efficiency apartment. There was no separate place between his kitchen, bedroom, living room and bathroom. He turned toward the door, as if waiting for someone to walk through. He frowned, picking up the uniform he'd thrown on the floor. He hung it up neatly next to the window, patting it out for any filth that might have gotten on it.

Turning around he opened the fridge, staring at the empty contents other than the milk jug. He pulled it out, knowing it was spoiled, but still sipped from it, withstanding it as best he could. After that he pulled on a pair of worn jeans, stretching the wrinkles out of his t-shirt as best he could before grabbing his wallet and leaving the house, not bothering to lock the door. There was nothing worth stealing, and no one would dare touch his uniform.

On the outside, Kenshin momentarily glanced back at the high tenement, some twenty stories, and wondered how they could stack so many creations there. The brick was dirty and covered in messages sprayed painted by scornful humans. He turned away from them.

Indifference grew in many creations. Not because of their strange spectrum of emotions or because of their suffering, but because they realized rather quickly that fighting the system was going to get them nowhere. Through the many stages of repression that they'd gone through, apathy for the horrors they were face with grew alongside it.

There were the attempts at educating themselves, on finding out how they could lift themselves from this hardened repression, or so Kenshin noticed. They studied the movements of Gandhi, and of Martin Luther King Jr. They studied the end of the apartheid, knowing that this was too widespread for the tactics to work. Peaceful movements were beyond them. Built in fighters as they were, it was their instincts to fight instead of flee.

"Himura," he heard from behind him. Kenshin immediately recognized the voice of an individual with a dark soul.

"Want to come with me to the market?" Kenshin asked, aware that Aoshi didn't speak too much. He nodded, coming up to Kenshin's side. It seemed that he perpetually wore his heart on his sleeve, not that his feeling traversed much terrain. It was apparent beyond his apathetic expression that he was depressed, much like many of the inhabitants. Kenshin found himself a little less. He was down, of course. There was nothing really to look forward to. He'd found solace in his job, looking around at the passengers on the train, wondering what they were thinking and making up the stories of their lives. Often he pretended his passengers, predominately creations, were instead human. It made the wideness of their careers possible.

"You should visit the hospital," Aoshi said.

"Was there another beating?"

"No," Aoshi replied. "They're wanting us to give blood."

Kenshin gave a one breath laugh. "For who?"

"For ourselves. Testing."

"I guess we have to pay for it huh?"

Aoshi shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I would suppose."

Kenshin stopped at an outdoor booth run by a gypsy looking woman. It gypsies weren't discriminatory. They welcomed all customers with open arms. "Back for more of my fruit?" the woman laughed. Kenshin picked out a few pieces, handing over the coins for it. She handed him the bag. He continued on.

"I got paid," he said. "I wonder if I can get meat that I do. I've been wanting some lately." Aoshi stood like an obelisk, stopped in the middle of the road. Kenshin stopped with him, glancing around at all of the people passing through, and their heads down. Coming in the clearing was a blue clad man, an officer with a sharp face and sharp eyes. Kenshin let his arms loosen a bit and continued walking briskly; behind him was one of his subordinates, or so the two believed since he was a few paces behind. He was mumbling something to himself.

Kenshin brushed shoulders with the taller officer, Saito, knowing all too well the man's name. His follower, however, seemed a little less than able to contain his anger. He immediately grabbed Kenshin's arm. "Yes?" Kenshin asked.

"What have you there?" he asked, prodding at the bag that Kenshin held. The red head changed the hands in was in, giving the officer eye contact.

"Fruit sir," he said politely. "Have I done something wrong?"

A strong hand came on his shoulder right before he was shoved to the ground, his elbows scraping against the concrete. When he looked up, the officer was in the direct light of the sun, the light coming off him somewhat devilishly. Kenshin registered that he was about to be kicked, rolling out of the way just in time. "Why you sonofa..."

Kenshin tossed the fruit up to Aoshi, bringing himself to his feet. "I'm sorry if I have somehow upset you sir," Kenshin said. The man threw a punch at him, Kenshin jumping back just far enough that he could catch the air off of the punch. The officer began charging him. Hi back was against the wall. The officer was smiling.

"Nowhere to run now is there scum?"

Kenshin flattened his back against the wall; he pressed his hands against the brick, the crown on his head resting on the brick. He might not have been afraid inside, but his face certainly expressed the fear. The only thing that was running through his mind was that he had to dodge anything the man threw at him, and not touch him as he did it. The moment that he touched a hot headed officer like this one was the moment that he was arrested and sent to prison. He'd seen it happen many times and knew that there was no way to escape a fate like that.

The officer threw another punch to which Kenshin rolled off the wall, ducking down and trying to run away. He was kicked in the small of the back, falling to the ground.

"Himura?" Aoshi asked. Kenshin was lying on his stomach, his nose at Aoshi's shoe. He was amazed to see that Aoshi kept his shoes neatly polished.

The heel of a boot came into the small of his back. He cried out, his legs starting to curl beneath him. "It's better to try and not run away from me you trash. You'll just end up getting hurt more." Kenshin was drawn up by the back of his shirt.

The red head was, despite his formidability, a very small opponent. He was a man that was easy to underestimate in his power.

The officer threw him across the ground where he laid playing possum. "That ought to teach you," he said. Kenshin had heard that a few times before. He rose up one his knees, brushing off his shirt and wiping the blood off that was dribbling from his elbows. Aoshi came to his side, handing him the bag of fruit.

"Do I have a boot print on my shirt?"

"Yes."

Kenshin did his best to try and pat it out, trying to be tender where the man had jug the heel of his boot hard into the small of his back. "Let's go, I still need to finish shopping."

Aoshi strode ahead of Kenshin, staring forward and not seeming the slightest bit interested in the world around him. Kenshin was somewhat saddened by seeing creations fall to a certain level of ineptitude. At first they simply lost the ability to be empathic the more they were created. Finally they seemed to lose the curiosity that all humans had.

Aoshi had walked away without wondering if Kenshin was following him. Kenshin stood there, his head lowered. He glanced back at Saito and his little accomplice. He sighed and under his breath said:

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."

* * *

A/N: The quote above is by the Dalai Lama so….yeah. I figured it was a bit appropriate and whatnot.

I thank you for reading this story and I also must caution you. A lot of the little things are very important….

KenSan out!


	4. 3

A/N: I believe that I should work on this one. It seems like the appropriate thing to do. I mean...since I like it and all...anyways...enough with me being crazy.

**Chapter 3. **

There was only one place that Kenshin found in solace, and that was his job aboard the train. Just walking up into the station, a satchel hanging over his shoulder, dressed in his usual uniform, his name tag hanging off his pants pocket, gave him pleasure to know he was doing a service of some sort. He knew so many creations that didn't have jobs and could hardly afford to live in the same tenement that he did. Having a job on the train, being a veteran of it even, was more than enough to make him giddy from time to time.

Not to mention the chance to see the woman again.

Kenshin was stopped by a security officer as usual. He showed his ID, getting a nod to go on toward his train pulling up onto the platform.

Like many times he stopped to think about the train. It wasn't a train exactly. The use of a "train" was no longer really around. They were called trains because of the similar two rail structure, but really they were a lot like subways, except for the fact that they weren't underground like one's found in New York City. The seating arrangement was most similar to a subway system. The seats were pushed against the sides, a person's back usually facing the windows, and they looked across the aisle to whoever was in the seat across from them.

Really it was a fast and useful system. Though electronically controlled to have "clean" energy, it was still under the control of a conductor to regulate its speed. There had been occasions when the auto-pilot was used, but they often ended in serious problems because if they were left alone for a long time, they were bound to speed out of control and often times, the system locked up and wouldn't allow any manual operation.

Kenshin knew all of the ins and outs of his job, and while he held the simple and menial job of checking tickets to be valid, he was more than capable of being able to control the train. Despite this, he didn't really want to be in control. In truth, he didn't like the idea that he had so many lives in his hands, whether or not they were human or creation because, to him, a life was a life and it didn't matter if creations or humans died, there would be someone in the world who would mourn, and he didn't like the idea that he would have that burden on his shoulders should something happen.

Also, he thought, being the conductor hid him away from the passengers that he enjoyed being around and looking at, making up his stories about, seeing all the different kinds of people that would board the train. He considered himself a people-person, even if he spoke to them rarely.

"Good evening," Sojiro addressed Kenshin as he climbed onto the train. "How was your day?"

"Okay," he replied. He didn't want to tell Sojiro about the officer who had assaulted him for no purpose. "You?"

"Same old, same old," Sojiro said, waving his hand around. Kenshin walked through the cars, Sojiro following him. They inspected the seats and the floor for anything someone might have left behind, or any mess that needed to be cleaned up. Kenshin glanced momentarily at Sojiro. He rarely spoke of himself to his co-workers but always seemed to have an unerasable smile covering his face. Kenshin assumed that it had to do with him being pushed around a lot. Sojiro's comments about "same old, same old" were often contradicted by the bruises that would show up on his cheeks or his knuckles. Occasionally he would see bruises ringing around his neck if the collar of his uniform wasn't up high enough. "My companion and me played a few games when he got home."

Games.

Kenshin didn't see any visible markings this time, but didn't assume that just because he couldn't see them that they weren't there this time. "I see," he replied, not delving further.

Once their inspection was complete, Sojiro reported to the conductor. All the doors to the train opened up, a few people climbing on. Kenshin searched through the people from his place in the corner. He prayed she would climb on. He prayed that he could smell her again. Her perfume was nice, even if it was mixed with a variety of food based smells. She looked like she worked in a restaurant.

She didn't come though. Kenshin waited as long as he could before the doors closed and the train took off. He went around, checking the tickets of the people aboard, and then sat down in the same place that he always sat.

* * *

Sanosuke arrived on the job for the third day, a Wednesday, waiting to cross the train tracks as the cars passed. Through the small gaps he saw his co-workers milling about. Once the train passed, he walked across the tracks greeting some of his co-workers. "Almost late again Sano?" his friend, Katsu, asked him. Sanosuke rolled his shoulders.

"Almost late isn't late," he said. "Let's get to work before the foreman sniffs me out," he said, climbing scaffolding. "I wouldn't want to get fired just after getting hired. Kaoru would skin me alive."

"She's a demanding chick isn't she?" Katsu asked, following Sanosuke up. Sanosuke shrugged. He bent back slightly, staring up at the beams which held a dull gleam from the sun. It was only eight in the morning but it was already starting to get humid. He turned back to the tracks, knowing that the trains passed by quite frequently, and being able to time them to catch a little cool wind that would come off of them.

"Well, I gotta support her don't I?" he asked. "If I have any plans with her in the future that is."

"You have plans for the future?" he laughed. "I didn't know you looked past lunch."

"Occasionally," Sanosuke joked. "I don't know what I want to do, but I wanna do something, you know? It's just...something," he shrugged. "Anyways, we better get to work right?"

So they did. Sanosuke was not the type that liked to hee-haw around on the job, and often times found himself working beyond the time he was suppose to, sweating like a pig and feeling a little hazy, and at about that time he was pulled down so that he could rest. Katsu ended up being the one to pull him down and get him to eat lunch.

As usual, the tall brutish man was quiet as he ate, Katsu talking to him about nonsensical things that he would never remember. He nodded, or said 'yeah' and 'really' occasionally. When he finished, sipping from the thermos, he looked over to Katsu and said:

"You know that Kaoru's been having to take the night train home?"

Katsu, caught off guard that Sanosuke had said anything to him, took a moment to recover from the fact that he'd spoken. "She has? Why? I mean, why would she get on the night train? Isn't she afraid?"

Sanosuke shrugged. "I thought she was. She always tells me how the creations creep her out. Remember that one time she said she knew one of them was staring at her ass when I was with her?" Sanosuke asked. Katsu gave him a leery smile in response.

"Sadly. Sano, you're such a brute. That one got you in jail," he said. Sanosuke smiled. He'd been in jail a few times for lashing out on an unsuspecting creation, but as the laws seemed to go, he was in and out with just a slap on the wrist; nothing that would keep him from getting a job.

"She told him about this one 'creepy one' she said. Some guy on the train...I think she said it was a guy that worked there. Anyways, before she left she was being weird with me after she told me she would probably have to ride again."

"Weird?"

"Yeah, she sorta took off all of a sudden. We'd been standing out there and I was trying to pull her back in and she wasn't resisting, you know, the normal stuff that ends up happening," he said, Katsu laughing in response to Sanosuke's candor about his and Kaoru's love life. "She took off like a jet outta there, like I'd said something that upset her, except that I hadn't so...I don't know..."

"And...what...you think this has to do with the creations somehow? What do you think she's doing?"

"I don't think she's _doing _anything," Sanosuke replied hotly. "I think the guy's doing something to her. I wouldn't put it past the bastards."

"Sano, you're being a little harsh aren't you?"

"Harsh? It's in their nature to be stupid. I mean, if one's looking at her ass, who says another won't try to rape her? I know you remember the riots; how many human women had been violated?"

"Yeah but, that was ten years ago. This is a...new generation of creations. Those creations were destroyed if they were apprehended. These are new, they're tweaked. I don't think they could get in the radius of a human and get away with that anyways. Even on a night train. And even if they did..."

"She could fry his ass in court if she wanted to," Sanosuke said, "not that I'd let it get that far," he added darkly. Katsu shivered at his friend's comment.

"You're jumping to conclusions again Sano," Katsu said. "Maybe she...forgot to feed that cat or something."

"She doesn't have a cat."

Katsu shook his head. "You're so dense sometimes. You know what I mean. She just wanted to go home. It's not a mystery," he rolled his shoulders, packing up what was left his lunch as the foreman called them back. "She wasn't raped, she wasn't touched. She just called him 'weird' which, let's face it, they all are. She shared your sentiments, don't go falling out of her graces just 'cause of one thing."

Sanosuke stood up, packed his lunch away, and threw away the leftovers. He tucked his hands in his pockets, surveying the area. A train was about to pass by, so he waited for the air to rush on his sweat drenched back. "Sometimes I wonder if you're looking out for her because you love her like a sister instead of a girlfriend."

Sanosuke's face contorted to confusion at his friend's comment. "Now what the hell is that suppose to mean?" he asked, taking off before the train passed. Katsu was narrowly ahead of him. Sanosuke stopped, turning to the train, the tail of it rounding a corner. "Damn you! Now I gotta wait till two!"

Katsu snickered.

* * *

The hospital was one of the creations least favorite places. It sat on the cusp between the ghetto that they resided in, and the human's part of the inner city. It was strangely divided, like it sat on an arbitrary line. Half of it seemed to be a little less cared for. Maybe not enough to be initially noticed, but if you looked at it long enough, the parts on the creation side seemed a little more grimy, and there seemed to be more cracks in it.

Aoshi trekked inside, glancing around the lobby where people looked at him strangely. His lips thinned as he walked up to the reception. The nurse batted her eyelashes and pouted. She didn't ask if he needed help.

"I'm here about the blood being drawn," he said. The nurse pursed her lips, looking down to a sheet. She wrote something down and passed it to him.

"Follow the green line," she said, pointing to tape that had been laid down from the lobby into a passage on the left. Aoshi took the paper and started following the green line.

His line of vision never really left its center place. He used his peripheral vision to look on the sides, but really never found there to be anything interesting when it came to what was around him. When he arrived where the green line stopped, he noted that there were many creations sitting in the waiting room. He approached a small window, looked at the paper, and then handed it to the nurse.

"Ah, another one," she said. "Take this, fill it out, bring it back to me and then have a seat. You'll probably be waiting a while, there are many ahead you," she said. Aoshi took the clipboard and went over to an open seat, filling out the paper quickly. He was aware that many of the things he wrote were spelled wrong, and in some cases, he wasn't sure what he needed to write in. He finished, handed it back to the nurse and then waited.

After about an hour and forty five minutes he was called back and they sat him on a gurney, telling him that a doctor would be around real shortly. Though he wasn't very keen on things that worked in the hospital, he always thought that nurses dealt with the jobs of drawing the blood. He moved passed it. Whatever it was, to him, it didn't matter.

The curtain was drawn, and Aoshi was approached by a green eyed lady with long black hair. "Good afternoon," she said flatly. "Another for the blood drawing? I didn't think word would spread so fast."

Aoshi noticed that her tag read: Takani Megumi M.D. "Shinomori Aoshi is it?" she said. He nodded. "Well, apparently you don't know what your blood type is. We'll figure that one out."

"What is the blood drawn for?" he asked. "Are we ill?"

"No, nothing like that," she said. "It's just a voluntary study. We want as many creations as we can possibly get."

"Oh," he held out his arm as she instructed. He made a fist as she instructed. She tied the tourniquet around his upper arm.

"Well, I can say one thing, it's always easy to find your guy's veins." Aoshi chose not to respond. Anything people said like that was pointless to respond to, just mindless banter. There was a small pinch. Aoshi didn't even wince. He watched her as she drew the blood sample. "There, not much to it. You can go."

He got up from the gurney, a little dizzy. He was aware that the doctor was fiddling around with the sample, handing it to the nurse. Just as he was about to get up, she pushed him forward more, her hand moving his hair off of his neck. She used both hands, pulling his shirt down as well. "Nurse!" she called out. The nurse who was just with her came back. "Did you send the batch of samples back yet?" she asked. The nurse shook her head. "Good. Get this one's back."

"Why ma'am? Does he have a condition he didn't tell us about?"

Megumi ushered the nurse closer. Aoshi, though uncomfortable in the position, held it for the sake of the curious doctor. "There's no mark," the nurse marveled. "How is the possible. He is a creation isn't he doctor?"

Aoshi took a heavy breath, blinked a few times, and then looked toward Megumi. She was puzzled. She took her hands from his neck and folded them over her chest. "I don't see why he'd parade around saying that he is for the fun of it. Are you employed?" she asked. Aoshi nodded. "What do you do?"

"Seweage" he said curtly.

"A creation job. He lives in the complex near here. He's registered as..."she looked at the paperwork. "He doesn't have a normal registration number." She said.

The registration numbers of the creations were like the social security numbers of people, or the VIN number of a car. It identified solely with the creation that it was attached to. "What is his registration number?" the nurse asked, leaning in to look at the paperwork as well. "Don't they usually start with at least a 2? That's the lowest that I've ever seen. 1. 697? Is that even..."

Megumi, baffled but at the same time excited, looked to the nurse and said: "Run the sample separately and report to me as soon as it's finished, alright?" The nurse nodded, taking the sample away. Megumi then looked to Aoshi, still looking forward with no curiosity or, really, any other emotion in his face. "You're being admitted," she said to him. His ears twitched, but he didn't seem to curious.

"Why?" was all he asked. "Is there something wrong?"

All Megumi could reply was: "Terribly."

* * *

A/N: What is "terribly" wrong with Aoshi? Why does he have such a low number? Till next time, KenSan out!


	5. 4

A/N: I realize I'm being slow coming with the plot at the same time I'm trying to move it along...at least that's the reaction I'm getting from the lack of reviews...but I'm not going to be that dumb author who holds the story hostage...so yeah...anyways...moving on...

**4.**

"Why must you always scribble?" the voice came from the transmitter, a mild annoyance among its typically joyous tone. The Professor ignored it, sitting upright at the table, staring at the steno pad. "You know, even if you somehow find out something from your little writings, it's not like you're allowed to publish them in your current state. And even before that, it's not like you have the laboratory needed to conduct your experiments, if you actually have any."

The Professor had learned long ago that the voice from the transmitter was very condescending to him at just about every turn. Sometime past the two year mark, he just started to ignore some of the snide comments that it would make. "Doctor," he finally heard. It was a different voice through the transmitter. The sudden change in the voices made the 'Professor' pause for a moment. "Are you listening to me or are you tuning me out too?"

It wasn't often he found a female voice addressed to him. He could pretend all he wanted that he was in the company of a fine woman, but there was no way to make the illusion true. He simply sat around with his hand in his lap, his eyes to the ceiling as he pretended, a smile on his face. It lasted for about as long as he could make it, and then he would have to stop.

"I'm listening," he replied. "What is it?"

"It's been about six months," she said, "you'll be in due for a few check ups I would suppose."

The Professor capped the felt pen and leaned back in the chair. Across the room, next to the place where a television use to be, was a mirror. He could partially see his face, but especially see the lack of care to himself where he'd nearly forgotten what it was like to be out in society and have to give a damn about what other people thought. "Your hair must be getting long now," she said. His fingers absently ran through his hair, not combed in...well...he supposed a few months.

"I keep it long. It just needs a trim."

"We'll also send a physician over, just to assess how you're doing and see if you need any immediate attention that would require hospitalization." The Professor smirked, lowering his head. "Are there any concerns on your part about your physical or mental status that would should be concerned about Doctor?"

"No," he said, reaching over to the radio. It was nearly seven o' clock, the time at which the world news came on. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Alright then. Thank you very much for your cooperation," the woman went away, and then there was a bit of silence to the room before he flicked the radio on. The Professor hunched back over the steno pad he had been working on. He unscrewed the cap to felt pen and continued to write, going over the same equation again and again, wondering if there was some way that it could be changed, somewhere that he could make a change.

"I'm surprised you don't need mental help," the normal voice was back. "I'd go stir crazy in there after a few months."

"If I can't enjoy my own company," the Professor said, stopping halfway through his equation. He started to draw something out, standing up and going over to a blank wall. "If I can't enjoy my own company, then I am doomed to hell."

"Well, I'm not saying that you're going to go crazy. I'm just saying that I'm surprised you aren't making your own imaginary friends so you can keep yourself occupied every once and a while," the Professor shook his head. "For all you know, I'm a hallucination. You're the brain doctor, you should be able to tell when you're in a hallucination anyways."

"I'm a neurologist and specialize in neurosurgery," he said calmly. "My profession has nothing to do with the workings on the psychological level."

"Well it has to for some purpose. You need to be able to tell psychological symptoms for say...trauma don't you?"

"Will you just shut up?" he asked, remembering that he hadn't had an argument with the voice about his mental status in the longest time. "Why do you bug me anyways? I'm sure there are a few other detainees that you can harass."

"Oh, there are," the voice said whimsically. "But you're the most fun. You don't crack up under pressure, which makes sense since all of the surgeries you use to do." The voice hung on those words. The Professor brought the felt pen up to the wall, writing on it at his own leisure. It was his home, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. "I can usually have a pleasant conversation with you. You're a smart man, but at the same time, you're a little dumb as well. Care for me to explain?"

"Not really, but I can't really stop you."

The voice laughed. "Good good. Well, you see, you think that if you keep trying you'll find where you're screwing up, which is what you're doing right now I suppose? Yes, I can tell. You're not writing on the pad anymore. But...you see...there is no solution to your little population problem. Funny they hailed you a genius at the time. Hemingway was a genius too you know, and we all know what happened to him. I'm just curious if you're going to kill yourself before the world kills you."

For the first time the voice was no longer condescending. Strangely enough, the words were comforting. Usually the voice was full of a joyful cynicism, now it was laced with truth. "You locked me in here," the Professor said. "If you wanted me dead, the system could have thrown the death penalty on me. But it didn't. Because I did nothing wrong. I did _nothing_wrong! All these damned bureaucrats thinking that they could throw this new...caste into the world and expect it to work. I told them not to. I told them it was wrong. I told them it wouldn't work."

"Ah ah. I beg to differ," the voice snickered. "Would you like to hear your words?"

There was no choice. The Professor leaned against the wall, his eyes squeezed shut, his ear wide open.

"_Doctor Seijuuro, what purpose do your creations have in this world_?"

_"They serve as an aid to the rest of humanity I would suppose."_

_"In what way?"_

_"They can have many functions...my main purpose was to hope they can help medically, but that's probably just me being a little too lofty._" And he laughed at his disgusting joke. _"If anything, they can simply be a service kind of creation. To do the things that we just...don't like to do everyday._"

"Stop it!" the Professor yelled. "Stop it!"

"Oh, now how does it feel to have your foot in your mouth there?"

"That's just one time. Just once. I meant good for what I did. I meant for it to be better for science, they turned it into a franchise."

The voice laughed. "Please, you expected to see it used for _good_? The human race is a race of greedy, filthy people. They will get away with anything they can get away with, and they will do it, even if they get their hands dirty. You should know that..._doctor_...you didn't become a doctor for the good of science. You just did it because it would be good for you. Now look at you. A disgrace to the scientific community. Don't tell me a _smart_ man like yourself didn't see it coming. See what I mean? You're dumb..."

He was on his knees, the dull ring of the radio in the background, the voice gone. He didn't break easily, that was for sure. But the voice told him the truth. The pure, honest-to-goodness truth. He had done something with the lofty ambition for it to be useful in the world. "If you can hear me," he said, sure that he was on a constant monitor, even when the voice wasn't speaking to him. "I didn't make the franchise. I didn't corrupt the world. It was corrupt to begin with."

"So who were you to think you could fix it?"

* * *

Aoshi was sitting in a nice room with sparse furniture and a clean smell hanging around it. He sat in the corner chair, his eyes directed toward the bed that was in the center of the room. The room was his. He had it as long as it took them to be able to do whatever experiments they wanted to do on him. They'd drawn quite a lot of blood, run an EEG, and put him on a treadmill for a stress test, all kinds of tests he had hoped he passed to their liking.

It had been a few hours since they'd come to bother him. He sucked in a breath, orienting himself toward the window. There wasn't much out the window other than a few buildings, cars, and some people milling about. He turned away from the window, pulling his knees up to his chest. They'd left a few books in the room. He grabbed one of them off the table and had it sitting in his lap. It didn't look entirely interesting, but he was scanning the words nonetheless.

The door opened. He closed the book. "Shinomori-san?" the nurse greeted. "Doctor Takani thought you might be more comfortable in a different set of clothes. Those gowns are usually itchy."

Aoshi stood, looking down at the gown. He took the clothes from the nurse, holding them. "I'll leave you to yourself to change," she said, walking out of the room. Aoshi put the clothes on the bed, sitting back in the chair.

Something about all of this seemed familiar. Something about this seemed almost like...deja vu, if he could call it that.

He stared at the clothes, getting back up to put them on. The nurse was back in when he was finished, taking the gown from him. "Doctor Takani is also going to be running another test of you ina few hours and she said it's probably a good idea to eat, so if there's anything that you want to eat in particular that the hospital doesn't already serve..."

"Green tea," he said.

The nurse nodded. "Anything else?" He told her no by walking away from her and taking his place back in the chair. She in turn walked out of the room, somewhat confused.

He was even more confused. Green tea? Where did that come from?

Aoshi looked down to his hands and noticed that they were shaking. Why?

* * *

It was Friday. It was raining outside, and Kaoru still didn't have a ride after her late shift. She stood outside, narrowly shielded by an awning. One of her co-workers was smoking, looking at her curiously. She bowed her head and sucked in a breath. It was the train once again.

As she stood in the station, she noticed a subtle riot occurring on one of the platforms. There were a few police creating a circle, condensing the mess in the circle. They weren't doing anything to help, only standing by watching. Kaoru approached the circle carefully, looking in the space between two officers. There were two people on the ground, one on top of the other. Kaoru cupped her hands around her mouth, hushing a scream. There was a woman on bottom, her shirt pulled up, her pants pulled down. That was when she realized that all of the officers were male.

She pushed closer, moving on of the officer's arms to get a better look. She didn't know the man, or the woman, but she could tell from looking that the woman was creation. "Hey," she said, nudging the officer's arm. "Hey. Why aren't you stopping this?" she asked, her voice somewhat stricken as tears formed.

"Get outta the way lady, move it along."

"Why are you doing something?" she demanded. Someone elbowed her in the face. She put her hand to her cheek. "Jerks! What the hell's the matter with you! Why don't you help her?"

"Why don't you just keep your pretty little mouth shut and let should be happening, happen," Kaoru, aware that there was blood running onto her upper lip, backed away the slightest bit. The woman wasn't screaming, just letting it happen. She shook her head and ran through to the train about ready to leave. She took her seat, her head nearly bowed into her knees. A hand touched on her back.

"What's the matter?" they asked. She looked up, wiping away the tears. She wasn't sure if she was crying out of sadness, hatred or disgust, or possibly all three. She wiped away the bit of blood she could, but she was aware that her light skin gave away the fact that she was bleeding. "Are you alright?"

It was Kenshin again. His deep purple eyes scanned her with concern. He dug into his pocket, fishing out a tissue from the depths of it, handing it to her. "I...I'll be right back," he said, aware that there was a job that he needed to do. For some reason, that comforted Kaoru. She waited, sniffing a few times, the tissue held at her nose. The train was moving, and Kenshin was going around checking all of the tickets. After he was finished, he sat close to her, a seat spaced between the two of them.

"What's the matter?" he asked again. Kaoru lifted her head, wiping away the tears from her face. The blood had stopped.

"Nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing to me," Kenshin said. "You can tell me that you can."

Kaoru licked her lips, the coppery taste making her tongue tingle. "It was what was happening outside," she said. Kenshin glanced outside at the passing scenery. "The police officers, they're...they're suppose to help right? They're suppose to be the ones that protect us, but they just...they just watched as the pig..."

Kenshin didn't need her to clarify. He saw it happening from the window, and justly ignored it, as everyone else did. For a moment he wondered why he had ignored it. Was it because he was just so used to seeing the degradation of his people? He shook his head. They weren't _his_people. He was one of them. But that didn't matter. All the same, a crime was being committed before they eyes of the law and nothing was being done.

"You don't see that much do you?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course I do," she responded sarcastically. "I expect that every officer in the world is a corrupt bastard too," she continued, equally sarcastic.

"You don't live in that world," Kenshin replied. "You live in a world where everything is clean, and nice, and no one has to worry about those kinds of things. You don't have to worry about watching an infant starve, or watching a beating occur, and you just sit back and watch it like a movie."

Kaoru was a little frozen by the words, being that they were especially cold. "I know that's where you're from," she replied. "And you're right, I'm not from where you are. But there has to be someone in the world that gives a damn what's happening."

"They're are far and few between that they are. That starry eyed optimism you possess is a characteristic that you should not lose," he shook his head. "But, you need to know that there will be times where you'll find out that sometimes the world isn't at as much peace as you think it is. You're own backyard can be a very dangerous thing that it can," he said.

Suddenly Kenshin jolted upward, the bump of the train startling him. Kaoru wasn't so surprised there were some bumps along the tracks, but it put fear in her when Kenshin made a big deal out of it. "What's matter?" Kaoru asked.

The red head walked along the aisleway, looking out the windows, and then turning back to the compartment door. It shuddered open. "What was that Sojiro?" Kenshin asked as the smiling boy squeezed through. Sojiro came up to him, whispering in his ear. His face slipped from mild uneasiness to pure and utter shock.

After a second, he turned to scan the passengers aboard, sparsely scattered about, but still there in their usual grogginess. He turned back to Sojiro, giving him a hushed order. The boy nodded, going back into the compartment from whence he came, not bothering to close the door as he went. Kenshin marched over to a small, while, cord phone and brought it up, pressing a button on it. There was a crackling over the intercom system, something that reminded Kaoru of a flight attendant about to make an announcement on a plane.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began rather somberly, "I am...afraid to inform you that there is a very real possibility that these cars you are sitting in may crash. The conductor has...left himself on the track this night and...we are going forward at a speed that we can not control. We are going to pull the emergency break, but the likely chance of us coming to stop and staying upright are...are very slim. Please remain calm and...and hold onto the nearest thing you can and do not let go."

He dropped the phone next to his thigh, it hitting the wall of the train. Kenshin was obviously shaken, but not so much that he couldn't think. He walked forward, and not able to think of anything better to do, pulled off his jacket and went over to Kaoru, taking the sleeves around her, tying her to the pole that she was sitting next to.

"Crash?" she asked, watching Kenshin as he tried to double knot the thick sleeves. "Are you...you're joking right?" she asked, her shaky eyes coming up to his, narrowly meeting them. The red head turned around, opening the door that Sojiro had went through, glancing through a compartment to the smiling boy who had the emergency break in his hands. Kenshin turned around, gripping the doorway tightly.

The souls were panicking. It took them long enough to set into the feeling, but they started panicking. They were doing well in holding onto something. Kenshin bowed his head, looked back at Sojiro, and nodded. His heart nearly stopped.

* * *

A/N: Will it crash? Huh? WIll it? Good cliffy huh? Well, till next time, KenSan out!


	6. 5

A/N: I'm glad that everything just loved the cliffy...on with the show...

**5.**

The flapping of propellers overhead put people in a standstill. They all looked overhead as it passed by, fluttering overhead in the construction zone that Sanosuke had been working in. Underneath it stood many people, neatly dressed with microphones in their hands, cameras pointed on them. They were all saying the same thing to their viewers, and they were also the ones to stop and look ahead, reporting that the air care helicopter had arrived.

One of the reporters came over to the tall lanky man sitting on the back of an ambulance, his face covered in sweat, his hands shaking. "Sir, what were you doing here when the train crashed?"

"I had...uh...forgot something on the...the scaffold..." he said, narrowly pointing toward the wreckage that all the reporters were there for. Sanosuke, who had been sitting in the back of the ambulance for the last fifteen minutes, visibly shook. He couldn't fathom that at the moment he went to pick up something up that he had left on the scaffold, that a train would derail and start sliding toward him.

His heart stopped when that happened. He was temporarily frozen in place, his mouth open. Luckily, he didn't keep in that position for very long. He turned around toward the metal structure behind him, the innards that were eventually going to turn out of be office buildings, and he ran for his life, jumping off the scaffold and reaching out toward the beam a foot below him. He rammed into the beam, Sanosuke's chest deflating, his ribs crushing against his lungs and his legs dangling. The train seemed to come to a halt at the right time, most of the scaffold now underneath it, or tilted over. Sanosuke did all he could to climb up on the beam, his whole body ready to convulse.

"Do you consider yourself lucky that you made it to the beam in time?"

Sanosuke merely nodded. The reporter seemed to understand that he was too shaken to talk, and the EMTs that were buzzing nearby shooed her away, forcing Sanosuke to get into the ambulance as a precaution.

He glanced upward toward the deep night sky, the helicopter flapping overhead. His hands rested on his ribs where he was sure a few had been bruised, but other than that his injuries were minor.

Then, Sanosuke turned his attention to the mangled cars of the train where it lay tilted on its side, all of the machinery underneath visible to the world. There was a trail of dirt and rocks that had been carried along with the train, the dust finally settling toward the ground but, for a while, stinging people's eyes.

The emergency crews dug around the wreckage, opening up the doors manually, and breaking in any windows that hadn't already been shattered so they could gain access to the train. There wasn't any screaming that came from the train, at least not anyone that was in pain, or alive within its twisted metal walls. The only screams were the faint ones, and the gasps of people nearby, staring at the wreckage with disbelief. It had been a while since anything like this had happened.

"We got a live one in here!" someone yelled out. Sanosuke, curious of how someone survived, maneuvered his way out of the ambulance, gripping onto the sides of it as he looked. "Female, unconscious, looks like she's got head trauma," that was when it struck Sanosuke that it would be a good idea to call Kaoru. He was surprised that she hadn't called him yet.

He pulled out his phone, his hands shaking so much that it was hard to dial her number. He waited for the first few rings, and then was surprised to hear her ring tone coming from around the vicinity. Unsure of where it was coming from, he began to walk closer to the wreckage. Her phone was getting louder the closer that he came.

Emergency crews put an orange backboard down into the wreckage, and Sanosuke, fearful of what he knew might be true, shut his phone and turned away, unable to look as the crew was ready to pull the 'female' out of the wreckage. "We got another live one! Male, bleeding all over the place, the femoral artery may be severed," Sanosuke, not half as concerned at who this may be, started to walk away, his stomach lurching and turning.

Several of the emergency workers were steady as they pulled the girl up through the hole they had created. All the while, the helicopter hovering overhead started to come to the ground, whipping up dust as it settled. Several other crew members went into the hole, being careful with the man that was lying with his back on where a window used to be, shards of it embedded in his skin. "Something's sticking through his leg," one said, "it'll probably bleed worse if we take it out."

Another orange backboard came through the hole, the crew members being careful as they analyzed the scene. "Has he got any head trauma or is that just his natural hair color?"

"Doesn't look like blood," one replied.

As soon as they touched him, he let out a scream. "His back might be broke," one said in response. They eased the red head through the steps until they were able to strap him on the board. They maneuvered his leg carefully, becoming aware that it was the either the femur or the hip that was causing him agonizing pain.

The crews eased him up, the helicopter nearby.

Sanosuke, still on the scene, came over to the stretcher that they had for the 'female' they were talking about. He trotted up beside it, his eyes as wide as saucers. Kaoru lie unconscious, blood stuck to her forehead. It trickled down on her pale cheeks. "Why were you..."but he knew why she was on the night train.

"You know this woman?" one of the men asked. Sanosuke, still somewhat confused, looked at him curiously. "You know this woman? She doesn't have any ID on her."

"Kamiya Kaoru," Sanosuke said. "Daughter of Koshijiro, you know the clean car guy," he said, his voice almost depleted. He followed the EMTs as they took her to an ambulance. He looked back at the helicopter, now flapping overhead. He didn't know who it was that was in the helicopter; all he knew what that Kaoru was more important, at least to him.

* * *

"You sure you want to keep it this long Doctor?" a man stood nearby, a pair of scissors in his hands. The Professor oriented himself towards the mirror and looked at himself with stoicism. He nodded, pulling the towel off his shoulders. He could feel the scorn that was coming off of the man who had just cut his hair. He didn't care. After a while, with all the people scorning him, he just learned that there was no reason to let it bother him anymore. He knew that what he had done, his idea of creating a new being, was something of a marvel rather than a crime. There was no reason for someone to hate him so much.

"The doctor is coming soon I would guess?"

"Yeah," the man said blandly. "Probably got held up by that wreck."

Usually, when hearing those sorts of things, the Professor didn't really want to know about it. Hearing about a car accident was almost normal, and not really all the disheartening, least not to him. Something about what the man said made him curious. "What wreck?"

"A train flipped or something. A real big hoo-ha, holding up traffic and everything."

The Professor nodded. "Why do you guys always come so late?" he asked. He was sure he asked sometime before, but if he had, it must have slipped his mind.

"You going anywhere important tomorrow?" the man scoffed. He had a point.

"So the doctor will be here then?"

"Yeah."

The man who cut his hair left. As soon as he did, the Professor went over and turned on the radio knowing that there had to be some broadcast on about it. Something to tell him what was happening.

He listened for the next half and hour, engrossed in all the little details which was unlike his usual detached self. The only issue was the fact that he was only hearing snippet reports about the wreck, and the only thing he learned was that there were casualties, and that the police had yet to figure out of the cause of the accident, but that it was most likely left on autopilot and then locked out any manual control of it.

A knock came at the door. Reluctantly the Professor broke away from the report, opening the door for his guest. The doctor was young and inexperienced looking. The only thing that was runnign through his head was that if the kid at the door even had his medical license yet. "Good evening Doctor Seijuuro."

The Professor grunted, allowing the kid into the house.

The young doctor didn't seem as repulsed as most were by his, but his nose curled at how slovenly the Professor kept his home. "This probably won't need to take more than an hour. It is late."

"Like I have anywhere to go," the Professor said, speaking freely. He heard a mild snickering from the monitor. It was when he realized that the voice was rather quiet this nice. It always caused a fuss when he had "guests" if they could be called so. "What all are you going to do? The basics?"

"Of course. Unless there is something you've been worried about."

"I don't do anything that would create concern."

The young doctor went over to the table, one of the only clear places in the house, and was about to flick off the radio. The Professor stopped him, feeding him the lie that it was his only solace and that he preferred to keep it on. The young doctor, somewhat sympathetic, nodded. "It's a shame they keep you like an animal," he said. The Professor sat down in the chair where he'd gotten his hair cut. "You could be doing so much good for the world."

"A lot of good I did to help it in the first place," the Professor said. "It's not like I can fix it. Other scientists seem to be coming up with solutions."

"They're not really good solutions. Breath," he said. The Professor closed his eyes and listened to the report. "Breath again for me."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

The young doctor shrugged. "Let's pretend there is and I can stay here longer. Keep you company."

The Professor, somewhat interested in the young doctor fumbling before him, smiled. "What's your name?"

"Amakusa Shougo," he said. "So, what has you so entranced that you have to write all over your walls?"

"I just was...going over old theorems of mine," he said. "Nothing different from what I published before. I was just...thinking that there might be a way to use the formula to fix the errors that are in the creations."

"I was always curious," said Shougo, "why they were made in the first place. I kept searching and there really was no definitive answer." He flashed a light in the Professor's eyes, making him blink a few times.

"Why don't you believe what the media says. I was playing God," the Professor laughed sorrowfully, the only way he was able to laugh anymore.

"I don't believe that any man would want to play God. Maybe a dumb man, but certainly not a smart one. They're smart enough to know how miserable they would be if they played God. Besides, they ought to know that there is already a God, so why must they play in the first place? Why not leave the niche to man with the proper training?"

"I take it your religious."

Shougo nodded. "Open up," he said. The Professor leaned back, his eyes closed once again. That was when he heard it. The radio station had finally gotten information about the accident.

"_...remains of what is presumed to be the conductor were found along the tracks. An apparent suicide. The conductor was creation 3.899. Also, a list of those either dead or missing had been compiled from the tickets bought, or the personnel along the train no longer found. This is rough at the time. The creations presumed lost are 2.693, 4.788, 3.260, 3.885, 1.001, 2.001 and..._" The Professor's jaw flinched, not enough for Shougo to notice, but enough for him to jab the tongue depressor a little further down his throat. Shougo removed it.

"Tragedy isn't it?" he said. "They don't have names, just numbers. I mean, it's not like they read out Social Security numbers when we die. We have names, and they read them..."Shougo walked toward his bag.

"I'm going to use the bathroom," the Professor said.

Shougo laughed. "Take your time."

He wasn't about to let a chance get away from him. He trekked into the kitchen, his eyes on Shougo as he piddled about him things. He went over to his silverware drawer, pulling out a butter knife. He them walked as close to Shougo as he could without being seen. There was an electrical socket.

The Professor had no intent on killing himself. It would only prove to others that he felt he was a failure. No. His plan was more genius than that. He trusted the kid to at least call an ambulance for him. In the least he would be able to be moved out of the house and into the hospital. He had a feeling that 1.001 was not dead, but instead mistaken, as he assumed he was. If he made it to the hospital and played his cards right...but it wasn't only that. He also hoped that surge of electricity was powerful enough to mess with the transmitter on his ankle.

Shougo was coming over to him, speaking to him, but he didn't hear. All he did was kneel down, and with Shougo's eyes wide he stuck the knife into the socket.

Shougo fell to his knees, his heart racing as the room flashed blue. Doctor Seijuuro fell onto the ground, his eyes poised upward. Shougo began CPR.

* * *

A nurse shuffled along the halls of the hospital, her sights on Doctor Megumi Takani as she made her way toward the patient room that both she and the nurse had been frequenting over the last few days. She stopped Doctor Takani just before she entered, paused to catch her breath and then said:

"They're transfering some of the people from the train wreck here Doctor."

Megumi's face hardly flinched, but she seemed to get a little glum, especially when she looked to her patient's bedroom. "What about them?" she asked, wanting more their status than anything else.

"We don't have much information. They're only be three or four coming, two of which I know are human," she said. She handed Megumi the file that had this information in. Megumi scanned it, sighed, and looked back to the nurse who was awaiting orders. "There's one man," she said, not sure if the doctor wanted to still speak to her or not," he's in critical condition and is being sent because they don't have the trauma center that can deal with him. Apparently he's got something sticking through his leg that they're afraid to pull out. They think that he might have severed the femoral artery, but they can't really be sure."

"Okay," she nodded her head. "He's going to need an OR as soon as he gets here. Get the Head of Surgery on that one. Make sure that the OR is ready by the time he arrives. Also, make sure the staff in the ER doesn't leave until we're sure that the victims are stabilized."

"Yes ma'am," the nurse nodded, almost turned to leave, and then said: "Oh, I almost forgot."

Megumi had her hand on the knob of the door. "What?"

"The results of Shinomori-san came back. The blood tests and the DNA," she handed off the file to Megumi. This time the doctor was eager. She took the file from the nurse and then shooed her away before she actually looked at the results.

Megumi went into Aoshi's room with a smile on her face, the results pressed against her chest. "Good evening," she said to Aoshi, well aware that it was past midnight. Aoshi was sitting in his bed, his knees folded up to hold the book in his lap so that he could read. He flipped the page in the book. As Megumi looked around, she also noticed that the books that had been put on his nightstand were still there. She wondered how many he had touched, even finished. She had heard from the nurse that he was reading quite a lot, but the nurse wasn't sure which books he had acutally been reading. "Is that any good?"

"It's okay," he muttered, closing it so he could give her his full attention.

"I've gotten some of your test results back," Megumi said. She pulled up a chair next to Aoshi and crossed her legs.

"I hope I passed them to satisfaction," he said. Megumi laughed.

"Well, there really is no 'pass' or 'fail' but if I had to say anything, I would say you passed with flying colors," Megumi said, pleased with herself.

Aoshi merely nodded, and turned his attention toward the muted television in front of him. Megumi noted it to be a late night news report. She moved passed it, looked at the results as he sat engrossed in the silence, and found herself a little awed at the tests that he 'passed'. She held her breath for a moment, looking at Aoshi curiously. Just as she was about to say something he pressed a button that unmuted the television.

"_...information had just come out about the victims of the train accident that has happened just hours ago. While, in the tragedy, there had been many lives either lost or are still yet to be found, it can be said that there have been two live humans found in the wreckage. Each of them is listed in critical condtion, the first of which being Kamiya Kaoru, daughter of Kamiya Koshijiro, one of the co-creators of the 'clean car'. She had yet to gain consciousness. The other, however, is a man yet to be identified,_" what looked to be a composite sketch flashed on the screen. Megumi's eyes flashed to Aoshi, noticing that he had turned the volume up a notch. _"This is he best picture of the man that we have at the time, and we need your help in finding his identity so we can return him to his family. If you have any information, please contact the station at number on your screen_." A number appeared next to the picture.

When Megumi looked to Aoshi, she noticed that he was shaking his head in some sort of disbelief. He began muttering under his breath something that she couldn't exactly understand. "Himura..."she finally heard. "No...it can't...Himura..?" he looked back to the screen but the picture was now gone. They had another report on, something interested Aoshi just as much, if not, more.

"_As breaking news tonight, it has come to our attention that the man behind the creations, Doctor Hiko Seijuuro, was taken to a hospital in the Tokyo area after attempting suicide in the presence of a doctor who had come to his home. Doctor Seijuuro, who for the past five years had been confined to house arrest after the ruling that his work in creating the creations had been considered treasonous, is believed to have committed the act after hearing about the report of the creations passing away in the train accident that had just occurred. The doctor on the scene wouldn't comment._"

Megumi looked to Aoshi, shocked to see that he was holding his hand to his chest, tracing it down to his navel. "Are you alright?" Megumi asked. Aoshi had once again muted the television and opened up the book. "Aoshi? Are you alright?"

"I'm...fine," he said, but had to think about it first. Megumi, aware that she would not get a straight answer, turned to the report again, reading it over before she told Aoshi the results. Just as she was about to speak he said:

"He wouldn't do it."

"Who?"

"The Professor," he said. Megumi deduced that it must have been Seijuuro that he was talking about. "He wouldn't do it."

Megumi had to trust his word on that one, but then, she wanted to believe the news just as much.

"Your test results were...interesting. Though we got what we expected from the DNA, that being that you are indeed of creation origin, we were surpising by the arrangement of the bases. It appears the the sequence that you have coincides with that of another patient who had been dead for...13 years now. A man who seems to share your name too. But, what's strangest yet is that...you're DNA has the arrangement to say that you are...part human..."

* * *

A/N: Dun dun duh! Heehee, till next time, KenSan out!


	7. 6

A/N: I wonder what will happen when all of our characters come together in one place, eh?

**6.**

If there was anything that the Professor immediately noticed, it was the absence of the acrid smell he was used to. The mess in his home accumulated its own distinct smell, a smell that almost faded into the background up until now, when he awoke to the smell of a so called "freshness" that floated about the hospital. It was the first of his senses to be bombarded. Much like a machine being turned back on, his sense of touch seemed to come back on, his hands and arms lying against a starched fabric, his wrists held by something that was meant to be comfortable, but was so worn that it was chaffing. His hearing came next, a few blips becoming a rhythmic sound he hadn't heard for a long time. There were voices floating around outside. Finally, he opened his eyes.

The bright light above him proved that he was indeed where he had intended to take himself. He went to rise, only to find that his body had not turned the rest of the machinery on. Suddenly everything ached, and he was warm. His chest was especially tight. He had to take a few heavy breaths before settling.

"Good morning," he heard. His ears flinched. "You know how to scare an entire population, let me tell you."

He was faintly aware of the actions that preceded him lying in a bed, his eyes at the ceiling. His head was swarming now, all the little workers trying to turn everything on just a little too fast. He went to bring his hand up to his face, only to find that it was restricted. He looked downward as best he could, a groan emitting from him.

"It's for your own safety," the voice said. He looked over. "You should make a full recovery. Your chest will probably hurt. We had to shock you back into sinus rhythm."

"I w-wasn't..."his voice was lost. He blinked a few times, everything really coming into focus.

"The burn on your hand will go away eventually. I guess it's the price you pay for trying to kill yourself. That and humiliating yourself in front of Doctor Amakusa."

"The body...it's natural..." he said, not caring that he had a bowel movement in the prescence of a man he hardly knew. "Water...please."

Whatever was binding his wrist was pulled off. He lifted his arm, grappling onto the bed railing. He shifted in the bed as best he could, the other restraint pulled off. "The one's on your ankles are staying." The person put a cup in his hand, and he realized that his motor function seemed a little compromised. He held as tightly to the cup as he could, and brought himself up, shooing away the helper. She backed up.

"I'm Doctor Megumi Takani," the voice said. He looked her over. She was a fine woman. She was tall, had nice legs, and the clearest green eyes. "Why'd you do it?"

"You going to do a psych work up on me now?" he asked, his voice coming back after taking a drink.

"Though that would be interesting, I'm not the one that will be performing that test," she said, seating herself next to him. "Actually, I just wanted to talk to you."

"You and everybody else," he said cynically. "I'm not going to try and explain myself to you. If you want answers, you'll have to go to the media and the medical journals. I'm tired of talking and people not listening."

"Actually, that's not really why I wanted to talk to you," she said. He glanced over to her, his elbows to his knees. His eyes would shift away from her, looking at all the mundane little things in the hospital rooms, the instruments that he hadn't used in years, and everything that seemed so familiar. There was a comfort, for the moment, to know that he was not in his room, or in his home, or on his street, looking at all the things that he'd already seen. "I wanted to ask you if you could help me with something."

"Oh?"

"I have a patient..."

"I don't have a license," he said, cutting her off. "And if I did, it would be expired by now, no doubt."

"Well, let's just pretend this conversation never happened," she said, her pointer finger at her lips. "Is that alright?"

The Professor leaned back, breathing a few times, taking in the air around him. "What are you wanting help with?"

"One of my patients, a creation, has some interesting test results that are very uncommon of his existence."

The Professor sighed. "You don't read much do you?"

"I beg your pardon?" she asked. "I've read most of the studies. I realize that mutations are common, that's not what I'm talking about. His test results came back, and they were saying that he had both human and creation DNA strands."

"Is he a second generation?"

"No. He is the first generation. Number 1.697," Megumi said. The Professor took a sudden interest in what she was saying. Though he hardly remembered some of the failed beings he created, one of the few that thrived, at least in his mind, was 1.697. The Professor knew him more fondly as Shinomori Aoshi. "He came in for the blood sampling we've been asking for, and his results were strange. Not only that, but he doesn't have the marking on his neck like most creations do."

"Any creation before a number 2 won't have one. Their exsistance is unauthorized, but unnoticed," he said. He'd become tired. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and the rhythmic sounds of the heart monitor made it all the more difficult. "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because, I'm working on the newer technology to keep these beings in line. I'm the first step, collecting the proper results for the scientists to tamper with."

"You're so smart..."he said, though it didn't seem to be a compliment. "Why are you degrading yourself?"

"I have no specific feeling for these creations. I'm simply doing my job," she said. "I hold no prejudice, if that's what you think."

"Then why are you helping the government exterminate them?"

Megumi was taken aback, and even as tired as the Professor was, he could see that. It took her a few moments to gather herself. "We're...we're not..."

"Are you so sure?" the Professor said. "Think about it. They're already in slavery, how much harder can they make it. Now, the only thing the government wants is death. If they can rid themselves of he excess population, they can give themselves a gold star. Our country no longer holds the capacity for the beings that are on this Earth. It's not only Japan...it's anywhere these beings are."

"They're wanting to make it safer..."

"Safer? Safer for who?" The Professor asked calmly."The creations? I highly doubt it. They're simply conning you and everyone else in to believing that this will be for the creations own good. But you've been fed this lie before. Why do you keep believing it? Are you so blind of the ambition for a better world that you can't see that?"

Megumi was silent. "I want a better world, and so does everybody else. All we want is peace, but this is an ongoing civil war in any country that's fighting it."

"Maybe if they weren't so oppressed then it wouldn't be such a war," the Professor felt his eyes close, and he couldn't bring himself to open them. He let sleep overtake him, but he was awake enough to hear Megumi say:

"You were such a brilliant mind before; I remembered being an intern, and standing next to you in an OR thinking that there was one person in the world who could do his job right...I never knew why you were so secretive about everything else, but you were one of my favorite mentors."

* * *

Kenshin had only just woken from a stupor, his motions slow and small. Everything ached, much worse than he was use to. The first images in his mind were that of the young woman on the train, and slowly he began remembering the events up to the crash, up until he made the announcement to the passengers. After that, everything seemed to slowly fade away, like it tunneled until everything just went black. All that was left was the screaming.

The door opened, and when going to turn his head to the side, he found that he was restricted. "Ah, so you're awake," a female voice asked. "All of my patients seem to be well this morning. You were a lucky one, mister."

Somehow he didn't feel lucky. Something bad had happened, he could feel it. It was on him like he was suffocating in it. The screaming clogged his ears, and his message to the passengers told him that whatever had happened was much more serious than the woman's whimsical voice let on.

"I won't stay here long. I just...want to know if you can tell me who you are. We found no ID on you at the accident, and we're sure your family is worried about you."

"Fa-mi..."he stopped, bringing his hand up to his stomach. The shifting hurt, sending shooting pain down his right leg. "Hi...himura. Kenshin," he said, choking up the words. He was hoarse, and his throat had felt like sandpaper.

Megumi remembered the name from what Aoshi had said before. Somehow it didn't seem like Aoshi would have guessed his name. As a precaution, Megumi asked: "Are you a human or a creation?"

The man searched his scrambled brain. There was some strange hope in Megumi. She prayed this man would say he was human, only for the fact that she didn't want someone like him, who was in desperate need of the care that only a human seemed to be offered, to be subjected to being treated worse and risk the chance of death.

"I...am...hu-man," he said, his words seeming to be over enunciated. He struggled to breath, the pain overtaking him.

"Alright, Himura-san," she said, standing. "I'll leave you to rest. And I'll order up some extra pain meds alright?"

She went to his chart, writing something in. As she turned to leave, she was met with Kenshin's strained voice trying to reach her. She turned back, noticing his eyes focused on her. "Where...is..."he paused, catching his breath. "There w-was...a girl...on the train."

"There were a lot of people on the train. Is she a family member Himura-san?"

"No," he said, his hopes dashed.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you information on other patients that aren't family," she said. "You need to rest. A nurse will be in shortly."

He was still, his eyes closed. He opened his ears to the world around him. He faintly heard footsteps, and voices, but the door out of his room was thick. There was breathing in his own room, an unnatural, robotic breathing. He brought a hand up to his face, looking at it curiously. There were a few cuts on his palm, but nothing out of the ordinary. He put his hand back down and looked toward the ceiling, which seemed to be the only place he could look.

As he laid there, waiting for the nurse, the only thing he could wonder was why he had said that he ws human. He could only imagine that backlash that would come of it, yet the only thing he could really ponder was that it was true. That it was what he believed himself to be. He wasn't anybody's puppet, or slave. He was a being who lived on this Earth just like every other being.

He heard a nurse walk in, the curtain pulled closed around the bed. The nurse said nothing to him, only fiddled with the tube running into the crook of his elbow. She looked him in the eye, smiled, and then walked away. The pain slowly seeped away, and he began breathing easier for the first time since he'd come to.

"Nurse," someone else said. He opened his eyes, then closed them again, letting his ears do the work. "I don't mean to bother you, but I was just wondering when her doctor would be here."

"I'll page him, see what we can do. Is there something the matter with her?"

"I was just wondering when she would wake up..."

"I'll see what I can do," the nurse said, and walked out of the room. Hearing the other voice and seeing the faint outline of a person beyond the curtain gave Kenshin the realization that he wasn't alone. It was comforting to have someone else around, even if he didn't know who they were.

The man move away from the curtain and started toward the door. Just out of the corner of his eye he caught the man, seeing his dark brown hair tied up in a bandanna. He was pulling a jean jacket on, looking back sympathetically toward the woman that was just beyond the curtain. Kenshin sighed, closed his eyes, and decided that sleeping his best option.

* * *

Sanosuke met up with Misao at the door. The small woman came in with flowers in her hand, a meek smile on her face. Looking at Sanosuke, the smile fell away. She handed the flowers to him. "How is she?" Misao asked.

"She hasn't woke up yet. I can't get a doctor to tell me anything, either."

"You think she would get better treatment," Sanosuke nodded in agreement, pushing Misao towards they way they were supposed to go. "Have her parents came to see her?"

"Her Mom's on her way. Yahiko called me, said they'd all be here pretty soon. Figures that they heard it on the news," Sanosuke said. "The media's on this crap like stink on shit. They can't find a way to break the news nicely." He shook his head. Misao put her hand on his arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked, knowing that not only was he emotionally distraught, but he too was hurt in the whole mess. Sanosuke sat down in a chair, almost collapsing. Misao was next to him. "Sano, it's okay to be upset."

"I know it is," he said. He handed the flowered back to her and folded his hands together. "I'm probably going to have to leave here pretty soon and help clean up the wreckage."

"Sano, reap the benefit that you're hurt."

The tall man stood, his hands in his pockets. "I'm fine, and everyone knows that. Besides, I need to keep this job, and that place is a mess."

"Cleaning that up isn't your job, the construction is..."

Sanosuke kept walking toward Kaoru's room, his pace slowing somewhat. He wouldn't admit it, but his ribs stung a little more than he thought they would. They were wrapped up tight so he wouldn't feel them so much, but it seemed to throb, much like a reminder, about the whole mess. "I've gotta go in about fifteen minutes," he said, pushing Misao into the Recovery Room. "They haven't gotten her a room yet. They just got her out of surgery this morning. She was in the ER for a few hours last night."

"Why so long?" Misao asked, sitting next to her friend.

"Everyone was just too busy..."he said. He stopped, pulling the curtain that was around Kaoru's neighbor away somewhat.

"Sano, that's rude," Misao scolded.

"He ain't awake. He was the emergency in the OR anyways..."Sanosuke pulled the curtain back to where it was and stood beside Kaoru. It didn't look as bad when the blood was washed away, but that didn't take from the fact that the doctors believed she might have internal bleeding. "Look, I'm gonna go alright? Tell her folks 'hi' for me." Sanosuke said, leaving the room. Misao's lip quivered a little. She looked down to Kaoru and folded her hands in prayer. She didn't know what to pray for.

* * *

Sanosuke arrived on the scene of the crash, his jacket folded over his shoulder. He met up with Katsu, his hands in his pockets. "They just want us to get rid of some of the scrap, make it easier to move the train. They still haven't found all the passengers."

"So I heard," Sanosuke found a way around the wreckage and to where the scaffold had been consumed by the train. His foreman stood a few paces away.

"You should be at home. You look pretty rattled."

"I'm fine," Sanosuke assured. He and Katsu went up to the foreman, chatting for a few minutes about the whole thing. He told them just to pick up the scaffold and throw it away. That was the best they could do. For the first few hours that was what he did. Katsu noted he was being more talkative than usual, even though he seemed a little more depressed than usual.

"Kaoru's stuff is still in the train," he told Katsu. "Her purse, and phone and stuff. They pulled her out with one shoe."

"They don't want us inside it. Last thing we need is to get trapped."

"There's enough holes," Sanosuke said. He threw a few pieces of scaffolding in the scrap pile, then looked to the trail that led to where it was consumed by the train.

"You don't know where she was sitting, or anything like that."

"I know what hole they pulled her out of," Sanosuke said. He seemed adamant to enter the crushed interior of the train. Truthfully, Katsu was interested to see what Sanosuke could find, but at the same time, his morality was trying to pull Sanosuke away. He grabbed his friend's arm.

"Sano, don't. The police and emergency crews are dealing with it. Everything's being taken care of. They'll pull things out of the train that they find. You don't know if where they found her was where she was originally sitting. She could have been thrown halfway to Timbuktu with the way it flipped."

Sanosuke pulled out of Katsu grip and went up to the train slowly, picking up pieces of scaffolding along the way so he wouldn't look so suspicious. Once he reached the train, he glanced around to the other people that were working around. He climbed up what he presumed was the top of the train, until he reached the side. He crawled until he found the hole, looking down at Katsu who was still trying to persuade him otherwise. Sanosuke slipped into the hole that he remembered Kaoru being pulled from.

Inside was a carnage of twisted metal, leather, and other miscellaneous things that were strewn about. He could see where blood was caked to the shards that remained in what was once a window. The smell was disgusting. He was sure most of it was the blood and other things about the he couldn't identify. The only thing that he was praying for was that he wouldn't find a body part.

He settled on the side, carefully looking around, picking up broken metal pieces. He eased himself to look beneath what were once benches. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Kaoru's number. He could faintly hear it somewhere to his right.

Following the sound of her ring tone, he found a set of seat that were rather intact, and he looked up to find there was another, smaller hole that he might be able to crawl out of. He rummaged around the mess of items, looking around to anything that sounded like a person approaching. Once sure there was nobody, he dialed her number one last time, locating it against the side of the train, along with her bag. He pulled it out, putting her phone in it. Everything looked like it was together. Just as he was about to lift up, he grabbed what looked like an ID thinking that it might have been something that belonged to Kaoru.

He shoved it into Kaoru's bag, looking around for another moment to take in the wreckage. He noticed a pole. It was something that wouldn't be out of the ordinary, except for the fact that it had a black jacket hanging from it. He then looked up at the small hole and climbed up, narrowly getting out. He slid down the side, looking around for Katsu.

The long haired man met up with Sanosuke who was going through Kaoru's things. They had her scent on them, something that he was always intoxicated by. "I can't believe you found it."

"My powers of deduction are amazing," he said, going back over to where he was suppose to be. "Plus her phone was intact."

"Wow..."Katsu shook his head. "Is she alright?" Katsu asked, realizing that he hadn't actually asked Sanosuke that.

"She's still unconscious," he replied. He set the purse down next to his lunch pale and sat, sweat pouring from his forehead. His ribs started to throb again. "There was this guy next to her though, came to consciousness, who was in the OR before her. Some guy they couldn't identify. The one they had the picture of, you know?"

"What about him?"

"He's getting better treatment than her, and they weren't even sure if he was human or not."

"They wouldn't want to discriminate if they didn't know," Katsu said. "He didn't have a mark on the back of his neck that they could check for?"

"I don't know. That was just something that the doctor was asking him when he came to."

Katsu shrugged. "Maybe they think he's in worse shape than her. You know doctors. They never tell you anything that you want to know."

Sanosuke pulled Kaoru's purse into his lap and pulled out the ID that he had picked up. He turned it over, looking over it curiously. It didn't take him long to realize that it wasn't Kaoru's.

"What's that?"

"Something I grabbed," Sanosuke said. "Himura...Kenshin?"

"That's a guy?" Katsu asked, taking the ID from Sanosuke. "Looks like a girl to me. Look at those eyes."

"He's a worker on the train. And if he was a worker on the train...at night..."Sanosuke looked at Katsu.

* * *

A/N: A little more coming together there...why would Kenshin lie about being human? Any reasons? Till later, KenSan out!


	8. 7

A/N: I'm glad when I get a point across! Thank you very much **caseyedith** for your review, and for all the other reviews. I was just doing this for the sake of having something to write...not to say that I didn't think out the plot but...the bunnies just keep a jumpin...heehee...anyways...onward!

7.

It wasn't often that Aoshi got entirely curious. It had been some time since he'd been visited by Megumi, and he was growing bored sitting in one room. It was very strange for him not to be working, and boredom set in easily. He searched his memory for a time that anyone said he wasn't allowed to leave the room. When he couldn't bring anything to the surface, he got off of the bed and walked over to the door, his hand over the door handle. For a moment, he looked back to the television, still on, like there was actually something interesting to watch.

Aoshi opened to the door, looking out into the hallway. For being a hospital, there was hardly anyone in the hallway, save for the nurse that was passing by with a tray, a candy-striper following shortly behind. The young girl looked up to him, smiled, and kept going. Aoshi wiped the palm of his hand on the sweat pants he was wearing.

Stepping out into the hallway, he looked around, opting to go the direction that the nurse had just come from.

The hallways were sparse of people, but things like wheelchairs or gurneys seemed abundant. Something about this place seemed so familiar. He squinted, continuing to walk forward.

No one seemed to bother him, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was because he wasn't the only one up. He noticed there were other patients, ones who seemed well, up and about, talking to one another. No one bothered him, or really said anything to him. He wondered if he looked like what he was, but then he realized who would really care? There seemed to be a strange mix of human and creation about the place.

But then he began to wonder.

Megumi had told him that he was part human. He was lost after she said that. It didn't make any sense to either of them. He didn't really respond to what she had said, but he didn't really respond to anything that she ever said, except when he felt that he actually needed to respond to her, or she was expecting it. What exactly could she have meant when she said that? How could he be part human? And what was more important, how would he classify himself? Did he still work the sewage job, since it was deemed to be too filthy for human hands? He looked to his hands a few times. Were they human hands? What part of him was human and what part was creation?

Aoshi stopped in the lobby, and this time he garnered a few responses. The nurses who were positioned at their station looked at him in worry. He also noticed where a few other people were looking at him strangely. He decided to make himself a little less conspicuous by sitting down for a moment. Once he did, he laid his hand on his stomach, his fingers tracing the fabric of his shirt from his heart to his navel again. He knew that underneath there was a clean line, but he didn't know what it was from. He just assumed that it was something all creations had.

Someone's hand touched his shoulder.

Aoshi turned, half expecting to see a nurse, or even the doctor, but instead he saw someone in a hospital gown, towering over him with an almost menacing, yet slightest whimsical, glance. Aoshi looked down to the hand, bandaged.

"Who are you?" he asked, looking to the face once more. The features looked familiar, but at the same time, they didn't.

"I didn't think you would remember," the man said, sitting down next to Aoshi. Aoshi turned, following the man. His mind was buzzing. "You may not know who I am, but I know who you are; Shinomori Aoshi."

Aoshi should have been surprised, but he wasn't. There was an almost joyful feeling in him. "How do I know you?"

"Oh, I only saved your life," the man said casually. Aoshi continued to look at him, wondering if the figure would spark anything. The man seemed at ease as he said, his hands over his stomach, a strange little smile on his face. Aoshi could sense wisdom about him, even if he really didn't look all that old. He looked to the man's bracelet, searching for a name. It was turned the other way.

"What do you mean?"

But Aoshi wasn't listening to the man speak. Instead, there was loud banging erupting in his ears suddenly. Four times it went off, along with a sick, nasally laugh. Aoshi gripped his chest and lurched forward. He gasped for breath, tears welling up in his eyes. Nurses came running over.

"He's fine," the man sitting next to Aoshi said. "He's having a little bit of a memory lapse." The nurses didn't take the man's word for it though. They put him on the floor, prying his hands from his chest. They lifted his shirt, looking for the source of the problem. All the while, Aoshi shook, his body suddenly turning cold, as if all of his blood had been drained. The man sitting next to Aoshi examined the long cut down his abdomen, as well at the three holes that were in it. He got down on his knees, the nurses trying to push him away. He simply took Aoshi's wrist pressing on it.

"His heart rate is fine, a little fast, but there's no arrest." He leaned over Aoshi. "Listen to me, you're alright, you're just regaining some lost information," he said, as though Aoshi were a computer. "You should probably take him back to his room; you might need to sedate him first," when the nurses looked at him incredulously, he said: "Yeah, I get it, I'm a crazy guy, but I know what I'm talking about. I may not have a license, but I do have the knowledge. Sedate him before he really gets his heart going."

The nurses, despite their unsureness, took the man's advice, gathering up a sedative and administering it. All the while, the man stood back, watching over Aoshi as he calmed before passing out. His dark blue eyes searched, near fruitlessly, for the face of the surgeon who had brought him back to life. The man had turned around by then, having been drawn toward another near him.

* * *

The Professor, having seen one of his children before him, felt a certain amount of content within himself. It wasn't enough to quench the thirst he really wanted, but seeing one was better than seeing none.

As Aoshi was taken away by the nurses, The Professor was drawn to a certain short girl standing behind him. "What happened?" she asked, looking at the Professor directly. He curled his lips, but the girl's genuine look of fear made him reconsider scoffing at her. She seemed innocent enough.

"A patient with a loss of memory," he said, sitting back down. He hated being weak, but the electrocution had taken it all out of him, not to mention that his chest, despite having eased, still was clenched up from being shocked back to life. "He's remembering things from the past, and it's shocking him."

"Oh," her hand, once balled at her chest, fell to her side. "What's wrong with you?"

"You don't know who I am?" he asked.

"Why would I?"

The Professor closed his eyes. "I did something stupid," he said, showing his hand to her. She sat down next to him.

"What? Did you staple gun it or something?"

Despite holding his composure, the Professor looked at the smaller girl wildly. "Where'd you come up with that one?"

"Because I did it once," she said, seeming proud of the fact that she accomplished such a feat. "You know, now that you mention it, you do look kind of familiar. Any reason I recognize you?"

"Does the name Hiko Seijuuro ring any bells?" he asked calmly, easing back into his seat. The girl's eyes bulged.

"You're the...that one guy," she said. The Professor shrugged as she continued to sputter out: "The one that made the creations?"

"Yep," he said, nodding his head slightly. He continued to look at her, and he waited for her to say something nasty to him. All she seemed to do was stare at him curiously. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Why would it bother me?" she asked.

"Never mind," he said, getting back up. The girl seemed to want to follow him, and did so as he wandered back to the room. He was sure that Megumi would be visiting soon, and he didn't want to be missing when she showed up. "Why are you following me?" he asked as he hung on the threshold on the door.

"My name is Makimachi Misao," she said. "And I wanted to ask if you knew who that man was. The one that you helped the nurses with."

The Professor turned back to the pint-sized girl, this time more interested than before. He still pursed his lips at her. He couldn't help but be a little cynical, even if this girl seemed sincere.

"Why does it matter to you if I know?"

"Because he reminded me of somebody," she said. "And if you know who he is, than I might be able to see if it's really the guy that I'm looking for."

The Professor, still a little unsure, but convinced, let her into his room and closed the door. "It's a doctor patient-confidentially thing," he said to her. "But that really doesn't matter anymore. Tell me who it is you're looking for, and I'll tell you if that man you saw is him."

Misao, somewhat confused, took a moment to respond. "Oh...um. He's an old friend of mine. We use to live together when I was really young. About twelve or thirteen years ago. His name was Shinomori Aoshi. He was a college student at the time and...well, he was far away from home. You see...I lived in Kyoto..."

The Professor gave her a commanding look and she quieted. "Shinomori," he muttered, laughing sorrowfully again. "What happened to him?"

Misao seemed to have no qualms about sitting on his bed. She folded her legs up and thought a moment. The Professor stayed rested against the door. "I was really young, so I really don't remember. But Gramps told me that he was shot," she said, and looked up to him with the most pitiful eyes. He could only imagine what attatchment this girl had to Aoshi, just by her look alone. "I didn't really believe him, but I had to. He was a student in Todai at the time, and I guess one night something went sour. He was a good fighter, really good, but...I don't know. You can't really fight guns. He was shot a few times. He lost too much blood, and died during surgery."

The Professor had a hard time being stony when seeing that the girl was about ready to cry. He walked over to the bureau and gave her a tissue. He sat next to her on the bed, thinking about what she had just said. "How old when you when it occurred?"

"How old...oh, I was seven or eight," she said.

"So you're twenty?" he asked. She nodded. Misao blew her nose and laughed a little.

"Sorry, I don't mean to get all gloopy on you," she said. "Is he Aoshi?" she asked.

The Professor pressed his palms together, his lips curling again. He didn't know why it was so hard to say 'yes' or 'no' to her. Maybe that was because it couldn't be answered so simply. "There was a man named Aoshi who was admitted to the hospital thirteen years ago. I was on duty that night in the ER, and he came in with three gunshot wounds to the abdomen. He looked like a lost cause, but then, with advances in medicine, no one would just give up on him.

"He was rushed into the OR. There was one other surgeon on duty that late, other than myself, so I assisted that night. I was mostly watching. I was surprised that he held on so long before they put him under," the Professor kept his back turned to Misao. "The damage done to his organs was immense, and while we were able to repair some of the intestine, the pancreas couldn't be fixed properly. The bleeding was severe, and was only getting worse. It didn't matter what we did, it wouldn't stop. So we did our best, and then his blood pressure starting dropping, and his heart was giving out. We tried reviving him. Again, and again," he said. He didn't sound sympathetic, but he knew that the girl was starting to get choked up. He handed her the tissue box. "We called time of death."

"So...he did actually die?"

The Professor sighed. "The man you saw was indeed Shinomori Aoshi, however, not all of him is the same."

Misao lit up for one second, and then gave out again. "What...what do mean?"

The Professor finally turned around to her, ready to tell he the truth. Just as he did, the door opened up, revealing Megumi and a nurse. Misao jumped off the bed, and the Professor moved up to the head of it, his hands folded neatly in his lap. "I didn't know you had any visitors, doctor," Megumi said. Misao started for the door, but stopped just before she got there. "Go on; you're going to have to leave anyways."

Misao didn't want to leave. "I was talking to him about something important," she said.

"You can talk to him later," she said. Megumi looked to the Professor. "He'll be staying here for a while, while we run tests."

Misao, though reluctant, brushed by the doctor and nurse. After she left, Megumi came to the Professor's side. "The results of the psych analysis aren't very nice," she said. "The psychiatrist is wanting to have a few more sessions with you."

"I see," he said. "What am I? A manic depressant or something?"

Megumi didn't sit down. "When we brought you in, you went through a full examination. There were some tautness in your stomach, so we took a small sample from your lymph nodes to be cautious."

"I wondered why it hurt," he said, amused. "I noticed it too, but it's not bad. Nothing to fret over," he said.

"That's the trouble with doctor's being patients," Megumi said woefully. "You never want to believe that you can be sick." The Professor's face downturned. "There will be an oncologist coming in as well as the psychiatrist. We'll probably be running a CT scan too."

The Professor nodded. "Alright," he said, his eyes to his lap. "Whatever you think."

"In the least, you'll be able to stay here until I give the okay that you can leave," she said. She turned around after that and left without another word. The Professor only sat in a haze.

* * *

Kenshin had felt a little better in the following days. He came out of his medicated stupor enough to look at himself properly. The nurse had propped him up in the bed. He was now in a different room, one shared with an empty bed. The nurse attending was kind to him, though he didn't try to bother her too much.

Megumi had come in and informed him that the surgery had fixed the femoral artery and that we would be alright there. She also told him of the break in his femur. It was the thing causing him the most pain. She had told him that it was a compound fracture, and while it was nasty, that it would heal. She said he might be left with trouble walking, but therapy could straighten it out. After that she left, leaving him to his own devices. He still wondered about the girl.

He was curious if his efforts were in vain or not. Kenshin was aware that he couldn't ask the doctors too many questions, and he didn't want to make himself look more suspicious than he needed.

The hope in him lingered that, if he got out soon, or was in the least, mobile, that he could find out where she resided and could go and see her. In the least, he could know that he did something worthwhile, and he saved at least one life.

* * *

Kaoru had finally awoken in the coming days. She was groggy and somewhat unaware, but for the most part, her mind seemed intact. There were only a few bits of information that got away from her, but overall she tested well. She underwent a second surgery to help with her internal injuries which weren't as bad as first thought. The whole time, Sanosuke stayed by her side, holding her hand, or watching in the observation deck.

He brought back her purse and cell-phone, something that she was happy about, and she rewarded him with a kiss. He was just thankful that she was doing better. All the while, he held onto the little ID card that he had picked up. He knew that the train worker was the one next to Kaoru in recovery, but after he'd been moved, Sanosuke didn't know what to do with it.

Sanosuke didn't think it was right to tell Kaoru about it. She didn't seem like she could handle that kind of stuff, and he didn't want to argue with her.

Once he left her room after the third day, he convinced himself that the only thing that he could do was to tell the authorities that the man was posing as a human.

He went to the payphone, dropping his money in. He saw Misao coming up the hallway, an annoyed look on her face. She brushed by him, almost shoving him into the phone. He gave her a dirty look, but she didn't see it. Finally, someone picked up.

He told them about everything, but the police didn't seem all that concerned, especially since he had told them that the man was in the train accident. He pressed to them that he was a creation, and that he was going against laws to be treated better. The police said they'd send somewhat out, but for some reason, Sanosuke didn't believe them.

He hung up and went back to Kaoru's room. When he approached there, he was stopped in his tracks by a doctor walking by. He recognized her face from days before, when she was sitting next to the imposter. He grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"I'm busy," she replied coolly.

Sanosuke got a somewhat evil grin on his face.

* * *

A/N: Till next time, KenSan out!


	9. 8

A/n: Well, it seems to be about time to continue this little saga yes?

8.

Sanosuke didn't waste any time in pulling Megumi aside and telling her about Kenshin. At first, Megumi tried pulling away from him by telling him that she was busy, which she was, but she really didn't want to listen to the man's babble. The more she listened, however, the more intrigued she became. At the end, she stood with him in the hallway, looking around at the people casually passing by. Megumi never gave any hints that Kenshin was actually her patient. She stood by the rules of confidentiality, but that didn't stop her from taking matters into her own hands.

"You're listening, right?" Sanosuke asked. She nodded faintly, her mind thick with thoughts.

Even after Sanosuke had finished speaking, he still stood in front of Megumi, some sort of pleading look on his face. "I understand your concern," she said rather robotically. "There may be something that I can do," she added. A grin once again came on Sanosuke's face. "If you don't mind, though, could I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why are you doing this?"

It was a simple question, but it was usually simplicity that stumped the human race. "Well, it's...it's because of law," he said, fumbling for his words. "Why else would I?"

"You'd be risking an injured man's life, assuming that I even do anything."

"He risked it by saying he was human."

Megumi put her hand to her chin, lowering her head to think. "I see," she looked Sanosuke over once again. He wasn't anything extraordinary, in fact, he was hardly interesting. It wasn't the appearance of him that caught her attention, but instead it was his fervor. "What happened to you when you were young, to make you think this way?"

It was a shot in the dark, and her psychology was a little rusty, but she knew she could manage to get at least one response out of him. "Huh? What the hell's that suppose to mean?"

"Most people wouldn't risk another's life on a hunch."

"I know it isn't," he assured her. He pulled out the ID, unaware if he had actually shown it to her or not. "See this, this is a creation's ID, and it's that same man. I wouldn't do this unless I was absolutely sure."

Megumi, though still curious, decided against creating a scene in the hallway. She could already see where he was becoming extremely tense just by her one question.

She took the ID from Sanosuke, looking it over to see the face of her patient on it, and she nodded, putting it in her pocket. "I'll need it if I decide to do anything."

Sanosuke was convince she would. He could tell by the look on her face.

* * *

Megumi made no immediate move. She planned to do something eventually, but not until she was sure that Kenshin wouldn't end up being killed in his weak state. She would visit him, like she would visit Sanosuke, and she would make sure he was doing all right. He was none the wiser to the conspiracy that was about him, but at the same time, she could sense a tenseness within him each time she would come around.

It isn't surprising, she thought. If he really was lying, it wouldn't be surprising for him to be a little tense around her now and again.

Despite this tenseness, she noticed a strange recovery pattern in him. At first, he was like any other patient. He was sluggish, nauseous and not all that talkative. All he wanted to do was sleep. Now, after three or four days, he seemed to be more lively, a lot more lively than any ill man should be.

Megumi came into his room that day with no preconceived notions about why he was feeling so well. She walked in, surprised to see him moved into a chair that was nearby, his hands over his lap and his leg elevated. He sat a little lopsided because of a pillow beneath his hip, but there was a meager smile on his face. "Well, good to see you up."

"The nurses put me here," he replied. "The bed is stiff."

Megumi pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. "You feeling a lot of pain?"

He shook his head. "It's dull, but probably because of this?" he said, lifting the arm that a tube slithered into. "I know you aren't really allowed to tell about patients, and I'm really not asking, but...I know there has to be a girl here who was on the train. I was talking to her, and...I was trying to help her." He lowered his head, his memory still blurred. "I, I didn't know her name, but I know she had to have been brought to a hospital."

"Without a name I couldn't tell you anything anyways."

"She was about twenty, with long black hair. Like raven's hair, and she was wearing a bow," Kenshin said. "I wisht I had gotten her name, that I do."

"You never know, you might meet her again," Megumi said thoughtfully. "Coincidences happen all the time."

Kenshin blushed mildly. "It's not...much like that. I really didn't know her. We only spoke a few times. She seemed nice enough."

Megumi began thinking about the ID that Sanosuke had given her. She knew the answer to the question she was about to ask, but she stillw anted to see how he would respond. "Did you ride the night train a lot?"

He nodded, but seemed hesitant. "I must be wasting an awful lot of your time, doctor. You must be busy," he said. He looked her straight in the eye.

"I make time," she said, and about reach out to touch his hand, only to stop. She contemplated to herself a moment. If she knew he was human, she would have touched his hand without qualm. But she wasn't so sure. Still, why did that stop her from touching his hand? "You mind if I take a look at something?"

"No, go right ahead."

She touched his shoulder, pulling his long red hair out of the way. She stared at the back of his neck a moment, her fingers running along the nape of it. Her lips thinned. There was no mark.

"I don't know how long you'll be here. We've been worried about the accident victims, naturally."

Kenshin nodded. Megumi had moved away, and looked ready to get up. "Is something wrong?" Kenshin asked, noticing Megumi's curious glance to him. "Doctor Takani?"

"I hope you don't mind if I draw some blood?" she asked, going around to a drawer in the room. Kenshin shook his head. "I just...want to see something. We've been having cases of internal injury that...don't show up immediately."

Kenshin furrowed his brows. "How is that possible?" he touched the back of his neck, his heart pounding heavily.

Megumi didn't answer him, only commanded him to make a fist, which he did, and drew the blood. Kenshin had to look away, somewhat disgusted by the whole procedure. He also couldn't bring himself to look at Megumi, afraid that his con was up already. "I hope there's nothing too terrible," said Kenshin. "I like my insides where they are, that I do."

Megumi laughed. "It's only precaution. It may be a little bit before the results come back so...just stay comfortable all right?"

Kenshin nodded.

* * *

After the Professor's mild explanation of their being "unauthorized, but unnoticed" creations out in the world, Megumi was more than a little bit curious as to what he meant. She considered, for a moment, that it could have been some type of prototype system, though for some reason, she doubted that logically reasoning. She knew the only way to get answers was to confront the Professor on the matter, but after the last time she was in there, she didn't really want to go back and hound him.

Between two things she had to do, she stood outside his door, looking at him sitting with his legs pulled in and what looked like a magazine in his hands. There was another doctor in there, an oncologist she recognized. Megumi ran her fingers through her hair, sighed lightly, and moved on.

Her answers always laid in science, because her results couldn't lie to her, while her patients were more than capable of doing so. Still, it took a long time to get information through research and tests, and she preferred the speedy approach. It seemed like she was out of luck. The Professor was most likely going to be drawn in a stupor of denial, depending on whatever the oncologist told him, and Aoshi was still somewhat lost after being told what he was told, not that Megumi felt that she got good information out of him anyways.

Megumi moved on. There was only so much that she could do, and it seemed that waiting was her best option.

* * *

Kaoru was better in the following days, and she seemed back to her old self. Everyone tiptoed around her despite this. She had been speaking with a psychiatrist about the ordeal, and didn't seem willing to want to talk to anyone else, except for Sanosuke.

He was with her one day, alone, and she started telling him about the incident, but only vaguely. She started by saying that she didn't hate the night train, and that there was nothing else that could make her stomach roll worse than the train. "I get that feeling," Sanosuke said. Kaoru stood up from the bed, much to Sanosuke's displeasure, and sat in a chair.

"You remember that one worker I was talking about?" she asked.

"That one that gave you a weird feeling?"

"Yeah, that one," she crossed her arms over her chest. "I think I owe my life to him."

It was the first time that Sanosuke had heard her say anything like that. His eyes bulged, but it took him a moment before he could drum up something to say to her. "Why...why would you owe your life to any of them?"

Kaoru bit her lip, realizing that what she said wasn't something that was usually a good thing to say to Sanosuke. "The night of the accident," she said, looking him in eye. It was the best she could do to try and assuage his temperament. "He was working and...he came up to me when he realized that it was going to crash and he tied his jacket around me, to hold me in place, like."

"Was...was that how they found you?" he asked, his mind sifting back to when he was in the train and saw the black jacket hanging from one of the poles.

"I don't know. I blacked out pretty quickly. I think my head bounced against the window," she said, reaching back. "I really don't know what happened. All I wonder is...what would have happened to me if I didn't have that thing tied around me."

Sanosuke was naturally conflicted when wanting to say something. He could feel his stomach spasming the slightest bit. He wanted to tell ehr that she owed nothing to a race like that, but at the same time, he could only wonder what exactly would have happened if she didn't have the jacket tied around her either. He'd seen some of the other "survivors" of the crash, if he could call them such. Kaoru was extremely mild compared to them.

"You don't have to owe them anything," Sanosuke said, as his persona forced him. "Whether or not he did it, you owe nothing to a creation."

Kaoru was once again looking him in the eye curiously. Sanosuke could see where she was trying to break a smile, but couldn't quite bring herself to do so. "I guess," she said warily. "I would think it would show that they're not all...how you seem to think they are."

Sanosuke put his hand on Kaoru's shoulder, his grip rather tight. "Kaoru, you're really good at putting me in these weird positions," he said, a strained laugh escaping his lips. "I don't really care what you think of them. That's your...decision."

Kaoru could sense his hesitance. She half-lidded her eyes and looked at her knees, knowing that looking at Sanosuke would only prove that he was lying to her. She knew he was trying his hardest to pretend that he was okay with her thoughts, but she could see past it. She gave him a little credit for effort. "I always wondered why you thought like that. I always thought that it was just...best not to ask."

She stood up, her legs shaking some. Sanosuke stood with her, holding her steady. She could feel a little bit of pull in her stomach, and she knew that it was going to hurt after they had performed surgery. Sanosuke put her back into bed, knowing that was where she wanted to go. "You know you can ask me anything," he said softly.

Kaoru could tell how lackluster he was in that statement. Still, he offered. "Why...why don't you even...tolerate the creations?"

Sanosuke stood up, moving the chair that he was just sitting in closer to the bed so he could hold Kaoru's hand. Once he got comfortable he said: "Because."

"That's not really the answer I was looking for."

Sanosuke cupped her hand, and with that one motion, Kaoru could sense fear within him. "Look, it's complicated alright? I really...don't like to try and explain it. It'll take...too much time..."

"We have a lot of time," Kaoru said. "So...start from the beginning."

Sanosuke grit his teeth and looked away from his girlfriend. Truthfully, it wasn't all that long of a story. It was hard for him to tell, and really, he'd never had to tell it before because his actions never needed to be justified, not even in a court of law. "They came out ten years ago, right?" he asked. Kaoru nodded. "I was about eleven, when the riots happened. Me and my family...my father and my little sister, Uki and my brother, Ota, were out at the market. It was relatively calm that day. I was wandering away from Dad...just looking at stuff. It came...kind of like a stampede. I didn't know what had happened until it did. For a few minutes I was panicked, I couldn't find Dad or my siblings," he paused, sighing. "I ended up finding them where I had left them. How I got across that stampede, I would know. I ended up...falling over his body."

Kaoru, who was listening with a little bit of concern, now had her full attention to Sanosuke. She couldn't quite cough up her voice, but she managed to look concerned enough that he continued. "He wasn't dead, just knocked out. Ota was underneath him, Uki at his side, pushing his shoulder. He had blood on the back of his head. I asked Uki what was wrong.

"'They hit him with a baseball bat,' she said. I asked her who 'they' was. 'The creations' she said. It took Dad a few minutes to come to. He was always resilient. He picked Ota up and took Uki's hand. I was behind him, looking at the mess. Dust was kicked up...people were fighting, sirens were going off. It was all overwhelming, like shell shock.

"'We're gonna be okay,' Dad kept saying; he chanted it as we worked out way down the street. It didn't seem like we were going to be bothered. The creations were too busy fighting amongst themselves and with the police to want to do anything to us. We got up to an intersection, and there were a bunch of humans waiting at the blockade set up by the police. They were only letting a few through at a time, so there wasn't a second stampede. I remember looking up and seeing creations jumping from windows, joining the fray.

"'Get down!' Dad yelled, and I didn't know what he was talking about. I saw the creations that had gotten through the barrier. They were still fighting the police, and some of them had gotten guns off of the officers and started to shoot into the crowd."

Kaoru put her hand to mouth, a few tears brimming in her eyes. "And..."she tried to push out more, but found it difficult.

"We got down, me and Uki, but before Dad could, he was hit in the chest, and one got Ota in arm. Hit him in one of the arteries...I don't know how long me and Uki laid there, looking at Dad as he faded out. We weren't the only ones on the ground. It was safest place at that point. It took until nightfall to get everything under control, and by that point we were all exhausted, and me and Uki thought that Ota and Dad and fallen asleep. We were keeping watching. Finally, the police came up to us, knelt down, picked me and Uki up and asked 'Are you kids all right?'. I looked down to Dad, pointing to him. The police prodded a little, picked Ota up. His head flopped back."

Sanosuke was looking toward a blank wall. Kaoru was having trouble keeping her eyes to Sanosuke. Her hands were wringing in one another.

"They...died didn't they?" she asked. Sanosuke nodded.

"From bleeding out. Me and Uki were taken to a hospital and checked out. We didn't have parents...Mom had died of illness a little after Ota was born. We needed someplace to go. It seemed to all fall on Uki when she realized that we were going to be put into foster homes. I guess it had been building up in her until then. After that...she sort of detached from the world. They put her in a hospital, the government taking care of her. I don't go and see her much, but...last time I was there...she was doing pretty well."

Kaoru couldn't say anything. Her voice now seemed fully lodged in her throat, and she was sure if she tried to say anything it would simply sound like she was croaking at Sanosuke. She just sat and pondered all that Sanosuke had just told her, her hand at her mouth. She looked at Sanosuke occasionally, but offered no sort of comfort. Finally, after several moments of discomfort, she said: "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. You grew up ignorant, that's all."

"I guess I did. I knew about the riots and everything, but I never actually...thought..."

"You couldn't have known. I don't go around telling people things like that everyday," he replied. He went to stand up, Kaoru's mother coming into the room. Before he left Kaoru asked:

"You think that...maybe it came down hard on you, too?" she asked. Sanosuke shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I retained my sanity didn't I?" he asked back. He walked away after that, leaving Kaoru to reflect. Her mother sat down beside her, asking her what that was about. She didn't say anything, only shook her head and started up another conversation so her mother wouldn't worry so much. She had to think about Sanosuke's question. Sure, maybe he was considered sane by a normal standard, but she wandered if the experience warped him to something more than he truly was.

* * *

Misao came back to the Professor, sitting on the end of his bed, staring at him while he read. Neither spoke to the other, at least not verbally. the Professor put the magazine down and rested his hands on his knees. "You're back?" his voice had drawn to a somber tone.

"You didn't think I would be?"

He shrugged. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said. "Where did we leave off in our story?"

"Are you all right?" Misao asked. The Professor paused, looking at Misao critically.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You sound different," she said. "Like you just got bad news."

"I'm tired. The nurses have been poking and prodding at me all night. I didn't get much sleep."

Misao accepted the answer, but she really didn't believe it. "You were about to tell me how he was Aoshi but not Aoshi."

The Professor nodded. "You know how a creation is made?" he asked. Misao shook her head. "Most are ignorant to that. Except scientists, of course, but...they're a different breed all together; anyways, what happens is there is an artificially created DNA based around a small sequence from a donor, like myself. It's sequences may be altered, to fit the way the creation be built. There is also a manipulation of chromosomes...if they're male or female, things like that. It's like making a doll. These DNA make cells...those cells multiply and voila, a being is created after a long enough incubation period. The thing is, at first, we couldn't do that. We understood that there could be a rapid growth, just using the manipulation process, but we didn't, for a while, understand how to control it and make an entire human entity."

Misao sat, thinking everything over, calling upon her old science classes to explain some of the things that the Professor was telling her. "How cna you do that? Isn't it itty-bitty?" she asked.

"Mircobiology is hard but...not impossible," he said. "As a prototype, we tried to figure out how we could renew the cells, give them life. Like when they were trying to use them to create artificial organs so people wouldn't have to wait for a donor. This was somewhat like that, but different. We used many subjects in this manipulation, and often times, it was done either without consent, or after the point that consent was necessary."

"Like in death," Misao said.

"Exactly," the Professor paused a moment. "In the case of Shinomori Aoshi, once he was pronounced dead I had him taken and put on a life support system. It kept his heart and lungs working so the blood would be flowing properly, the body, despite being dead, was not dead for sometime. We prepared a sample, taking his DNA and manipulating it. When it was getting ready to reproduce, we took one of the strangs and matched it with another. This hadn't worked too well before, but we figured we had nothing to lose. Once the process was complete with the strands, we put it back into the subject and let it do its work. By letting this happen, we were hoping for a quick repair of the organs that we ourselves could not fix. It's why they consider creations now to be very hard to kill, because they can heal so quickly."

"And...it worked in Aoshi?"

"It took time, but we didn't give up. There was improvement in his pancreas, and most of the chest cavity. After about two weeks, we gave it a shot at seeing how well his body had adjusted. We took him off the life support system and waited. After seven hours, he was conscious, with his heart beating fine, and his pancreas nearly intact."

Misao was a little dumbfounded. "So why not tell us?"

"Because as far as you and your family was concerned, he had been dead for two weeks. You had probably held a ceremony, and been given...ashes...that weren't his." The Professor sucked a in breath, looking at Misao curiously.

"That's...that's fraud!" she yelled.

"Yeah well, even if he'd have come back with you. Even if he had been a miracle, or whatever you want to call him. He wouldn't have been who you knew him to be. The procedures...the...duration of time for everything. The life support, possibly even the treatment had caused brain damage in him. It had severly wiped his memory, and some of his basic motor function. Whoever he was before wasn't who he had become."

"And...we were going to stay in the dark, all this time?"

The Professor simply nodded.

* * *

A/N: Basic science mumbo-jumbo and Sanosuke's reasoning...now...will Megumi act or not? Till next time, KenSan out!


	10. 9

A/N: So it has been a long time since I worked on this. Mostly because I got sidetracked off of Kenshin and fell in love with Yu-Gi-Oh! all over again. Which is crap because I have a ton of stories I still love. So I hope I haven't lost so many of you. I really don't. I just...got unfortunately sidetracked. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I tried to make a it a bit longer. So, here we go.

* * *

9.

Before Kenshin ever asked; before he felt the shudder against the tracks, Sojiro knew that it was going to crash. He watched as the conductor jumped, and he felt very little when seeing it. His mouth twitched downward for a moment, and he wondered what about the man's life might have caused such a result, but he didn't think very long. Overall, he knew that the train was going to crash. He couldn't control it, and Kenshin was too meek to try.

As it tipped over, and as gravity was pulled out from beneath him, Sojiro clamped to a pipe that was in the control room and felt his feet throw upward, lofting for a moment before there was the hard shudder against the ground. He heard something snap unaware that it was his own arm. He still hadn't let go.

At the end of it he was lying on the side of the train, his head pounding, voices in the distance. "Ken…"he eased himself up, his hand at his opposite elbow, squeezing where he could feel it out of place. He winced and wearily drew to his feet, shaking. There was light in the distance, whirring in the background. He took a few steps forward until he found an opening, climbing from a small hole in the top. He moved along the shadows, emergency crews further along. He blinked and took a breath. "They may think me dead…"he muttered, not entirely sure why, at least not yet.

Sojiro kept walking—limping—until he was in a distance where they couldn't see him. He found himself lying on the ground, curled up and staring at the starry sky. There was the sound of the city in the background, though he had no urge to go towards it. No urge to back to his master, who held him by a leash and fed him if he played the games right. Despite the throbbing pain in his arm, he smiled and looked upward.

Such great tragedy, with such a loss of people, brought about great happiness for the boy. He could be free, like Kenshin. Live by himself, no master to bully him around. He thought, just maybe, he could live with Kenshin.

Sojiro brought himself to a sitting position and looked to the distance.

What if Kenshin didn't make it? He sacrificed himself for the sake of that girl, didn't he? Kenshin was so soft sometimes.

He stood up and kept walking further away. He would find Kenshin sometime. He believed, in some way or another, in serendipity.

In the following days, Sojiro found himself enjoying himself far more than he had with his master. Though he mostly wandered through the city, his arm slung up from makeshift items had found, he found some kind of immediate pleasure from not being identified and sorted. He ate by collecting coins from the ground and stopping at noodle carts, nodding pleasantly, speaking politely. Maybe they thought him a beggar, but that was alright. He wasn't a creation. He was a person, an entity in the universe.

That was, of course, until a Samaritan came toward him, noticing his slung arm and badly bruised face. The elderly woman approached him, and he gave her a curt bow before she said: "You should go to the hospital. It's just down this way."

Of course he knew where it was. He had been taken on a few occasions by his master when his wounds were too dire to be fixed by untrained hands. "I'm okay ma'am," Sojiro replied.

She wouldn't take no for an answer and pushed him along the path. Sojiro sighed and lowered his head. He knew that he was considered to be dead, or at the very least, missing. He had heard the world news reports. He had also heard about the Professor. The moment that he had heard that news story he was sickened. He remembered when he stood beside the Professor, unveiled like a prize before the adoring public. Asked to do menial tasks to prove how capable he was.

He sat on a gurney, the old woman no longer around. He swung his legs and looked at his arm. Half of him said that he should leave immediately. There was no reason to be fixed; he was fixing himself slowly but surely. He could feel it. But he didn't want to say that to anyone. He didn't want to reveal the truth and let the illusionary land, the one that he had created because of this mishap, be shattered simply because someone cared for him.

He heard high heels and looked up. There was a doctor before him. "Hello." He took a look at her. Tall, with long hair and green eyes; she was looking absently at a clipboard. "I'm not really…important. I'm sure you have busier things to deal with. Emergencies…"

"I'm working in the clinic tonight," she answered blandly. "I am Doctor Megumi Takani."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sojiro said, nodding. "I uh…sorta had a little accident." Megumi was already pulling his arm out of the sling. Sojiro winced. "Yeah…"

"It looks like it was twisted out of socket."

"Well…I don't really know."

"Badly swollen."

"I think I heard it snap."

Megumi nodded, and wrote something down. Sojiro took note that she hadn't looked him in the face. Furthermore, she hadn't asked him if he was human or creation. He wondered if she was assuming one way or the other. And if she was, her actions meant that she was either entirely busy, or she had deduced on the bad end of the scale.

"This wound looks old."

"I suppose it is; I didn't really want to come. I sorta got…pushed."

"You should have come earlier. It needs to be pushed back in."

"That doesn't sound pleasant."

"If you want to use your arm, that's what you're going to have to have done." Sojiro nodded, and he watched her as she finally looked him in the face. She kept looking at him for a few seconds, her arms dropping to her sides slowly. Sojiro cocked his head to the side, not exactly sure why she was looking at him the way she was. "I'm going to get another doctor to come to attend to you, and I'll be back in a few moments."

Sojiro nodded. "O-of course…"he blinked several times and lowered his head again. She must have had some reason that Megumi was bolting down the hall.

* * *

At the same time that Megumi was walking away from Sojiro, the Professor had stood from his bed, Misao still staring at him, disturbed. He could tell that he gave her no comfort despite telling her that the man that she had seen was indeed that long lost Aoshi.

Her question hung after he gave the wordless response. To the small girl, it was hardly enough.

"What would happen if we brought this out to the world? Me and Gramps?"

"What more could you do to me that the government hasn't?" the Professor asked seriously. "And what would it matter that it was brought about that I performed experiments without the consent of the family? On a technical basis, he was dead."

"But…but he was our family. Didn't you think about the people around him?"

"You can have him back at any time. I was sparing your feelings."

"How can you be so heartless?" the Professor opened his mouth, but paused when thinking over it. "It doesn't matter if he didn't know who we were or…or if he was disabled. He's still a living, breathing being."

"You're about the smartest person I've ever met," he said flatly, though Misao was immediately confused. "Hardly need explanation of the experiment; hardly need reason as to change. You see it for what it is."

"What…?"

"Something all the medical journals couldn't understand. Something my fellow scientists couldn't understand. The ultimate x-factor."

Misao furrowed her brows and walked toward him. "Which is…?"

"Human compassion."

The Professor turned away and leaned against the end of the bed. Misao couldn't see his knees shaking, or feel the knot that was growing in his stomach. "Are you okay?" Misao asked, getting off of being miffed.

"Fine. Just a little ill."

Misao stood close to make sure that he wouldn't fall over. "Why did it have to be Aoshi though? Why couldn't it be someone else?"

"Why don't you think about it on this level? If I hadn't have saved him and made him into this being, would he have been alive for you to ever see again?" The Professor looked to the door where he could hear footsteps. Loudly. Before he could see who was about to come in, he rushed to the bathroom and knelt to the toilet, his arms bracing the sides. The door opened as he found himself gagging on his insides.

"Dr. Seijuuro?"

"He's in the bathroom," Misao said. The Professor could all hear this from a distance, his head nearly in the bowl, his vision pointed towards the blood that was dripping from his lips to the water. He pulled his hair back.

Megumi knelt beside him. "This…isn't the time to ask you a question…"she said, reaching up for a rag and wetting it. She wiped at his cheeks, though he batted her away.

"I'm fine."

"You're getting worse." She rubbed his back gently. "I just…wanted to say that there is someone in my clinic that may…interest you," and she hardly paused as she lifted him up. "But you need to get back in bed. It's obviously progressing. Hopefully it hasn't metastasized."

"I don't want any more scans," but he followed her back. "Who is in the clinic?"

"The First."

The Professor stopped in his place and looked over his shoulder, almost not seeing Misao where she was stopped, worrying. "Why is he here?"

"He's injured."

"Probably the cause of his heartless owner," the Professor climbed into the bed, his head reeling. His stomach was empty, but he could feel another wave about to hit him. "I need to see him."

"When you're not puking blood," Megumi finally turned to Misao. "You should be going now. He's not in the condition to have you around."

Misao was about to rebut, but thought a moment before turning away and going to the door. "What's the matter with him?"

"Doctor-patient confidentiality says I can't tell you." Megumi replied. "I'm sure you have better places to be."

"Then take me to Shinomori Aoshi."

Megumi glanced over the girl and then back to the Professor who was coaxed to lying down. "He is also in no condition to be having visitors. Do you fraternize with creations often?" Megumi couldn't help but ask the last question.

"He's not a creation!" Misao yelled. "He's not anything! He's Aoshi. What the hell's it matter?" She shook her head and opened the door. "I'll find him myself."

Megumi flinched at the sound of the door slamming, and she looked back down to the Professor who was holding onto her wrist tightly. "You mean the first revealed?" he asked.

"The one that was at the conference. The one that you were with, that performed all of those tasks miraculously."

"Seta Sojiro." The Professor smiled somewhat, but not entirely. "He is the first as far as the world is concerned. He is not the first as far as I am concerned. And certainly not the best I could have ever created either." But there was a spot within in the Professor that would never be lost to anyone else. Sojiro was quite an accomplishment. A member of his family. His brain child.

Before Megumi could react, he leaned over the side of bed, retching once more. Megumi cringed. She pressed the call button and looked at the amount of blood that was now on the floor. "You'll see him when you're stable."

The Professor would have said something, but his head was spinning too much. He leaned back in bed as a nurse came over to handle the situation. Megumi walked out, a sighed heavy on her chest.

* * *

Sojiro had been informed that he was being admitted on grounds of possible internal injury. He didn't contest, though he was entirely confused. He sat in the room, his hand grasping his arm where it was throbbing from being shoved back into place. He had been given a dose of pain killer and thrown into a large hall filled with at least another dozen creations.

After staying there for what felt like forever with no one attending to him, least of all the doctor who had first seen him, he found himself too curious. He got up from the bed and walked out of the room, other pairs of eyes on him as he slipped out of the door and began down the semi-dark halls of the creation wing.

He knew that no one could care less if he was wandering around aimlessly. He just wondered how far he would get before he was forced to go back to his room. Or if he was considered to be going too far because of his status.

When he made it to the main lobby, he looked around at the nurses who seemed to care less as he crossed to a different wing. A sign read that the cafeteria was nearby. He supposed that was where they thought he was going.

Of course, there was nowhere to go. Nowhere but long hallways with strange implements and other patients who were looking at him strangely. He ignored their looks. Humans could always sniff out creations.

Sojiro kept looking in the windows as he walked by them, no other interesting thing to keep his attention. And even the inside of the doors didn't look so interesting. The people simply lay in their dilapidated states, nothing more. That was until he found one room, and a blur of red inside. He glanced around, the halls fairly empty. He opened the door slowly and peeked in.

"Himura?"

The red head glanced up. "Sojiro?"

"You're alive." Sojiro slipped into the room and closed the door. Kenshin was sitting, trying to make himself comfortable in the chair.

"So are you. I was very afraid that I was."

"How are you on the human side? Did you lie?" Though Sojiro sincerely believed that it was very easy for Kenshin to convince them.

"I…suppose I did," he shrugged. "You haven't been here too long, have you?" he asked, looking Sojiro over. He could tell that the boy's wounds were days old, yet he didn't look as if he had been cared for well. He didn't even look like he'd been bathed.

"No. I was brought here suddenly." He looked around and pulled up a chair. "Why did you tell them that you were human? You realize what could happen to you?"

"I don't really know why I did it that I do not," he shook his head. "It seemed like the appropriate answer. And…"he reached back, feeling his neck where Megumi had looked earlier. "I have no mark like other creations."

Sojiro drew wide eyed and stood, coming over to Kenshin and pulling back his hair. His fingers traced gently over the smooth skin. "Then…maybe you aren't a creation after all." Sojiro said. "Or maybe they forgot to give you a mark." Sojiro was still entranced, trying to look underneath the thick head of hair that Kenshin had. His fingers jerked up, and he looked to the door, though no one was there.

"What are you doing back there?" Kenshin hardly budged.

"Nothing…just…"Sojiro kept feeling. "You have a very odd…bulge."

Kenshin brought his hand up, moving Sojiro's out of the way. "Oh. That is an old scar of mine," he said, tracing over the T-shape that sat at the base of his skull. "It's been there for ages."

Sojiro felt back to where his mark was, knowing well the shape of it. "You're scar is the same…"

"What do you mean?"

"It's the same shape. It's just farther up."

"Maybe someone cut it on me while I slept because of a defect. I don't really know how it came about."

Sojiro fell back in the chair. "I highly doubt it."

He flinched again, only this time he was right to look at the door. Megumi came through, a foul look on her face. She glanced between Kenshin and Sojiro, and then to the paper that was in her hands. "I don't understand any of this," she said aloud, looking to the two. "You are the first," she said, pointing to Sojiro. "But you…you have some kind of….genetic code that I don't understand. You are not human, and you are not creation. You're….you're some kind of…mutation."

Kenshin's eyes widened. "I…beg your pardon?"

"You are a human with a naturally mutated gene to the creation DNA. And…what's worse is it doesn't look implanted. It's fully natural," she furrowed her brows. "What…what is going on here?"

Kenshin reached back to his neck. "I…I have no idea." He said, but there was something coming to his mind, some kind of memory. The insides of a library, heady in velvet maroon, the books lining the walls in golden bookshelves. The light was dim, and sparse, and he wandered along this until he came to a doorway where a shadow stood.

He grasped his head as it flared in pain, and he let out a cry, not able to comprehend it.

He knew, somewhere, that this wasn't just any memory. It was the past left behind more than fourteen years ago. Before his parents were taken. Before a man named Seijuuro Hiko took him in and changed him completely.

* * *

A/N: So, what is Kenshin exactly? Is he human, is he creation? And what's the scar on the back of his neck? Well, you'll have to wait and see. Until next time, KenSan out!


End file.
